With Time
by aimeeshii
Summary: Moving to a new town, Dino meets a withdrawn child that prefers to speak with his eyes rather than words. Over the years, that doesn't change, but the way he looks at Dino does. D18 AU
1. A Bunch of Buttercups

**Warning:** This story will purely be cute non-romantic things until chapter eleven. I'm just putting the rating up already so readers don't freak out later on. There will be _no _pedophilia.

_家庭教師ヒットマン _REBORN! © _天野明 _

**one: a bunch of buttercups.  
><strong>_I don't know if I like you or don't like you._

"Hey," Dino called, crouching as he extended his hand towards the child in front of him, "little man. It's been awhile, hasn't it?" His bags had landed beside him with a small thud, but the noise was enough to scare the other away. Sighing, Dino tried not to look dejected. "What did I do this time?" he asked their mother, jutting his lip out as he stared at the floor. No matter how many times he was rejected, he chose not to give up. It was only a matter of time until he was accepted—he was still a stranger, after all.

"Oh, don't worry," Nana laughed softly, fond of the sight of her two children staring at each other, even though the youngest had decided to hide behind her leg and have some of his bushy hair up her dress. "Tsuna's just forgetful today. He only woke up when he heard the taxi pull up outside, you know." She smiled down at the four-year-old at her feet, ruffling his hair and gently coaxing him to stand on his own two feet.

He refused, stubbornly puffing his cheeks up and shaking his head.

"Did he?" Dino humoured her, unsure whether to believe that was the case. They had been living apart ever since Tsuna had been born, only meeting on spontaneous occasions, and he'd always received the same treatment. He was an outsider, not only in looks.

Tsuna had grown since he'd last seen him. The almost bald head, from where their father had decided he needed a _man's _haircut, had sprouted a lot more hair. The auburn strands reached just above his eyes, poking out in different directions and clumps. As Nana had said, it was obvious that he had just woken up. If he looked close enough, Dino swore he could see pillow marks across one of his large cheeks. He estimated that his brother would come up to roughly his thigh if he'd ever work up the courage to come near him.

It had been four months since they'd met and Dino was sure that he hadn't changed. Apart from getting ready to transfer schools, and therefore had been anxious and losing some sleep, so his eyes looked more tired than before, he remained the same. The same bright shade—that he detested—of hair, the blond contrasting with his skin tone and sienna irides.

"I'm sorry we missed your birthday, Dino," Nana apologised, her tone sincere. "Tsuna had a fever."

He told himself he was old enough to fend for himself, not to be pampered any more. "I know," he murmured, clearing his throat. "I spent the day with myself, doing what I wanted. There was no reason to have a party with friends I'm never going to see again, right?"

When he stood up and plucked his bag from the floor, he could clearly decipher his mother's gaze. Her eyes were telling him a eleven-year-old shouldn't feel like that, much less announce it aloud.

He faked a smile. "I guess I'm home, Mom."

-x-

As he waved goodbye to his mom and little brother, Dino gnawed on his lower lip. He had the whole day at home until they returned from kindergarten and work, so what was there to do? He perched himself on the sofa, stiff, as just the scent of the apartment wasn't easy to get used to. The warm atmosphere was foreign, and with how awkward it had been when he'd walked back out from his room the night before—after inspecting it thoroughly—and noticed that immediately, Tsuna had shut his mouth and looked down at his food. As much as Nana had tried to keep up the warm feeling, even by singing to calm the youngest down, it wasn't working. Dino had consumed his food quickly before retreating into what was going to be his room for years to come. Were the walls always going to be the same dull shade of white, and was the view from the window always going to seem so uninviting?

Without bothering to unpack all of his clothes, Dino showered, dried his hair and shoved on his clothing and walked straight out of his _home_, looking for somewhere to breathe. He took in the fresh air as he would have after a choking fit; large gulps with his eyes closed, calming himself down.

"There's no reason to panic," he told himself, the childish tone his voice possessed irking him, "it's just a new place with new people in it."

A new place that he was lost in, he soon found out. After walking around aimlessly for a good half hour, he slumped down beside a tree and placed his forehead onto his knees. It was just his luck to get lost on the first day, not considering leaving some sort of a trail or clues to find his way back home. The name of the apartment building was unknown, too, all he knew was that his family were on the first floor.

"Are you trying to be a target?"

Dino's head shot up quickly, and he looked at the newcomer with large, curious eyes. All he could take it, though, was the fact that the boy in front of him had grey hair and lots—far more than what Dino considered the average, for him—of bandages and band aids slapped onto him skin.

"I could hit you with this." The boy tossed a bright yellow tennis ball into the air, catching it with ease without looking to see where it would fall. "I got told off by my mom for hitting without permission," he explained in a simple tone, his eyes as wide as Dino's had been when he had been caught unaware. "So, may I use you as a target, mister runaway?"

"I'm sure I'll get hit even if you don't aim," Dino grumbled, knowing his terrible luck. In his last school all his classmates found amusement from his awful luck, but all he found was the fastest route to the nurses office. "I didn't run away! I got lost."

The other male blinked, obviously confused. "How can you get lost? There are signs everywhere!"

"Signs can't always help," he shot back, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest. He was still seated down onto the floor, staring suspiciously at the newcomer. If he looked closely enough, he seemed to be the same age as him. But then why wasn't he in school? "It all looks the same around here."

The gray-haired male's eyes visibly lit up as he dropped his ball to the ground without a thought. He reached forward and took hold of Dino's wrist, dragging him to his feet and pulling him further into the foliage. Even when he exclaimed his distaste for being pulled around, he was ignoring.

"Look!" the boy said, still gripping his wrist while pointing towards the tree in front of them. They weren't even half the size of it, so to see properly they both strained their necks in unison. "This tree still has it's leaves! The one you were under didn't."

He sounded too amazed for his own good. "As cool as that is," Dino said, taking back his arm and rubbing where the Mark would appear soon, "it doesn't help. I can't get home by following _trees_!"

"Why didn't you say you were lost? I always help a man in need!" To emphasise his point, the boy banged his fist against his chest, puffing it out before it had hit. "Where do you need to go?"

As much as he wanted to keep his pride, Dino had to admit, in the end, that he had no idea. "I... don't know," he said, honestly, whilst blushing from head to toe in an instant. Another one of his charms, apart from being hit a lot, was his ability to blush within seconds. "Today's my first day here. I just left home to get some fresh air."

"Who lives near you?" he enquired. "I'm amazing at finding directions, it's almost extreme."

He hadn't asked about the neighbours; their apartment was the first one, the rest to the left. The town was so small that the boy was bound to his family. "Do you know everyone here?"

"Of course." He grinned widely, showing that he was missing a tooth.

"Do you know the Sawada family?" Dino asked hopefully, switching his weight onto his other foot. "I need to get to that apartment, wherever that is."

"You know Tsuna?" the male asked as he started walking through the trees. Hearing his brother's name, Dino followed along after him, unfortunately getting leaves in his face as he didn't catch them in time. "Sure, I know where that is," he proclaimed as Dino gnawed in his lip. "I live two apartments down from them. But I've never seen you around before..."

And that was his cue to explain why he was a stranger, not welcome in the area. "I'm his older brother," he said, not as proudly as he could have, "I used to live with our dad."

"I wondered why I never saw a man in that house," the boy said, continuing to fling leaves into Dino's face, although it was unintentional. "I'm Ryouhei. Tsuna often comes round to play with my little sister and I. He's scared of our mom, though. Silly thing, he is."

It was as though a whole new world had been described to him. At least he knew that even though his brother was timid, he still has friends. "Is it normally just the three of you?" he asked, doubting that Ryouhei's mom would ever be joining in if Tsuna was scared of her. Was that how he was doomed to be, secretly spying on him so he didn't overreact and start crying? "I'm going to be busy with school and stuff soon, so I thought..."

"Oh no, one of us has to drag Kyouya along with us," Ryouhei said, laughing fondly. "As much as that boy pretends that he hates us, he does enjoy it." He looked over his shoulder and spotted the blank stare that Dino was giving him. "I guess you haven't met him yet. Kyouya's the kid in the apartment next to yours. You won't hear any screaming or crying from in there."

Dino blinked. "Why?"

"He's extremely quiet," he explained, "but smiles when you've done something good. Kyouko likes to see him smile."

His interest was piqued. "Who's Kyouko?"

"That's my baby sister's name," Ryouhei said proudly. Dino had to wonder whether he'd be able to talk about Tsuna that proudly one day, then decided that he just had to wait and see whether anything happened between them.

"How old are they?" And you, he added in his head.

"Kyouko is Tsuna's age, and Kyouya's a little bit older. He's five now, I think." The unspoken question was in the air, and Ryouhei chose that moment to laugh, bashfully scratching the back of his neck. "I got suspended from school for playing catch. My throw was a little too extreme for them, and the teacher said it was an act of violence." He looked over his shoulder again, grinning and showing off his missing tooth. "I'm eleven."

"I'm starting school next week, so I guess I'll see you there?"

"Oh yes, you will." He grinned. "And tomorrow night. Out parents are going out, so I'm babysitting round yours."

From the lack of information he'd been told, Dino told himself that it was only natural. He didn't need to know everything immediately, but it still hurt. "Yeah," Dino said.

He'll be a better big brother than me, he thought.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Dino finally realised that he'd forgotten to get a key at all, so he'd spent the day with Ryouhei instead. He was easy to get along with, Dino mused, someone who was just obsessed with having fun, rather than sitting down and talking. They were fast friends.

-x-

The day after, just as Ryouhei had announced, Dino was told that there was going to be some visitors in their apartment. He stared blankly at his mother, waiting to see what extra information would come his way, and if she'd answer his unspoken question of why wasn't it him babysitting? Surely, it would have been a great chance for him to bond with his little brother—the same brother that was clutching a teddy bear and burying his face into it. Tsuna was completely unaware that Dino had bought him that bear the year before.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble," Nana apologised, looking over her shoulder at her eldest son. "Things have been hectic since you've come here, I know. But it'll get better. You'll make friends." Her high heels clicked against the floor as she ran around the living room, looking for her purse. She'd said she was going out with two other moms, the ones from the other apartments on their level. "Ryouhei will be here soon. Have you met him?"

As expected, she was forgetful. A fond smile tugged at the corner of his lips; he always knew he didn't get that trait from his father. "Yeah, I met him yesterday. He seemed cool."

"Cool isn't quite the right word for it." Nana laughed, looking in the mirror as she slipped on a pair of earrings and fixed her hair. "Just make sure you don't do anything sport related. He's a bit too... enthusiastic."

Oh, I know, he thought. He wished her a good time and endured having his hair ruffled before she disappeared, but not before kissing Tsuna softly on the forehead. The young boy simply pressed his face further into his bear, slowly nodding to whatever she'd whispered into his ear.

The atmosphere was awkward again. It was the first time the two of them had been left alone together, and Dino took it upon himself to sit down on the sofa beside his brother, gnawing on his lip as he thought about what to say. "So..." It was a promising start. "Does your bear have a name?" To his surprise, Tsuna nodded his head but didn't say a word. "What's his name?" he asked, scooting over so he was sat beside him.

Tsuna mumbled into the bear, and all the other could make out was, "Girl." Dino perked up immediately from hearing the small mumble, it was the most he'd gotten out of him, after all. "Fuwa."

The bear was fluffy, but not as much as Tsuna's hair, so it fit well. "I see," Dino mused. "Is Fuwa in pain from how tight you're holding her?"

"...N-no." His voice was shaky, but he took enough notice of his brother's words to pull back and turn his bear around, looking at it's face in concern. He murmured again, and Dino couldn't make out what he'd said.

"That's fine then." He smiled softly—at least it was progress, right? "I used to have a bear. I left it back with dad by accident, actually." Tsuna didn't reply to his confession, but from the slight turning of the younger boy's head—meaning that Dino could roughly make out one eye—he supposed it was a sign to continue. "I called him—"

It was that moment someone knocked on the door. Only lightly, but it was still loud enough to make it. Dino sighed in exasperation and decided that that moment wasn't the right time at all to attempt to bond with him. As soon as he'd opened the door, he blinked in surprise.

"Prank," he murmured before he heard someone laugh quietly. Looking down he saw a young girl, probably around Tsuna's age from the height, dressed in what seemed to be a pink pair of pyjamas. She wasn't holding anything else apart from a small soft toy which was shaped like a bunny. "Kyouko?"

She looked up with wide eyes, allowing Dino to see that they were a light shade of caramel. "...Tsu-_chan_?"

He'd confused her already. "Tsuna's on the sofa inside," Dino said softly, standing out of the way to let her in. She walked slowly, looking at her surroundings to see if anything else had changed. "Is your brother coming?"

"_Kyouko_!" Ryouhei shouted from outside, the sound of footsteps following. "Mom told you to save your pyjamas for _later_!"

Dino raised an eyebrow as he saw her dive behind Tsuna on the sofa, trying to hide behind his bear. Tsuna's expression had visibly lit up—considering that his face wasn't squished into his bear any more—as soon as she'd waved like a maniac towards him.

Ryouhei came sliding to a stop in front of him, almost slipping over. "Have you seen my sister, Dino?"

"No, I haven't." The lie caused a small laugh to come from inside. "I haven't met her yet, only some strange creature in pink pyjamas. She's invaded my home."

"Strange creature," he murmured. "That's _definitely_ her! Kyouko!"

For the next few minutes, Dino leaned against the closed front door as he watched Ryouhei attempt to chase his little sister around the room. Although the older sibling wasn't being serious, it was still amusing to watch as he slowed down as soon as he'd almost caught her. Tsuna had stood up on the sofa, almost dropping his bear to the floor, as he watched them in what seemed to be fear. He'd gasp softly as soon as Ryouhei had gotten close to her. Dino decided that he was spoiling their atmosphere and stalked into his room, softly closing the door behind him.

Rather than being where he heard laughing, he decided to play a video game instead. He was lucky enough to have a television in his room and had managed to take any consoles from his former house. There wasn't much he'd left behind—apart from friends, a few pieces of clothing, furniture and his bear he'd had since he was born. It hadn't been intentional; the toy had fallen out while he was packing without him realising. His father had been there to help him out, so it was probably still where it had fallen.

It was thirty minutes later when he heard his name being shouted. "Dino!" Ryouhei called. "Dino! _Help_!" He paused the game, placed down the controller and walked quickly into the living room. Ryouhei was on his back on the floor, while Tsuna and Kyouko were happily sat on his chest and stomach, keeping him down on the floor. "They got me, Captain."

"Captain?" He raised his eyebrows.

Ryouhei winked at him, as if to fill him in on a secret. "Go on without me!" he cried, exaggerating his words. "My death can't be extremely wasted."

"...Okay," Dino replied slowly, unsure whether to take the hint to join in. Kyouko was looking up at him with wide eyes, but Tsuna was still staring down. As subtly as he could, he changed the topic from feeling too uncomfortable. "Ryouhei, didn't you say there was another kid?" he asked, watching their expressions change. Kyouko immediately shifted her gaze to her brother with hopeful eyes. "Is he not coming today?"

"Oh, he is." He grinned. "Who wants to come with me to get Kyouya this time?" Before another word could get in, Kyouko and Tsuna slid off onto the floor and faced each other, each with one hand clenched into a fist. "One, two, _three_!" Ryouhei called happily, finally standing up and watching them play rock paper scissors.

When Tsuna won with scissors, he jumped happily while Kyouko pouted. "Tsu-_chan_ cheated!" she claimed.

Her brother patted on her head in a comforting manner. "We'll be back in a few minutes. Why don't you go over and play with Dino?"

As she trotted over to him, clutching her rabbit once again, Dino shifted on his feet comfortably. He was never good with anyone younger—his brother was a prime example of that. "Hi," he said. He took note that her hair was a dark blond, almost brown, and reached her mid back along with a short fringe at the front. Almost like a doll, he thought.

Her voice was softer than before when she was comfortable. "Tsu-_chan_'s brother?"

He dropped down to crouch, trying to get to her eye level. "Yeah," he confirmed, "but we don't look alike, eh?" To emphasise his point, he played with his blond hair purposely.

With a curious expression, Kyouko pointed out, "Eyes."

Eyes? Dino thought, furrowing his eyebrows. Did it look like they had the same colour eyes—was that the _only _thing they had in common? But then again, while he'd looked at Kyouko and her older brother, they didn't seem to look alike. Then, he was considered lucky to have one features the same, wasn't he? He smiled softly at her, about to thank her for pointing that out, before the door slammed open. They both visibly jumped.

"We've arrived!" Ryouhei shouted. Kyouko clapped her hands enthusiastically, grinning, when she saw that they had a companion. Whilst Tsuna was standing alone by Ryouhei's feet, but still wearing a pleased expression, the new addition they'd dragged along with them was currently draped over the older boy's shoulder, being forcefully held there as it was obvious he didn't want to come.

Dino spoke up after clearing his throat. "I don't think he wanted to come..." Although the boy wasn't struggling, from his attitude his distaste was obvious.

"Lies!" Ryouhei kicked the door closed behind him, throwing the boy onto the floor not so carefully. "He was trying to hide in his wardrobe."

Then he really didn't want to come round. Kyouya had landed on his backside, wincing, before he continued to stubbornly stay on the floor. Unlike Kyouko, he was dressed normally, just like Tsuna was, too. Kyouya was the only one of all of them who had black hair, in a similar style to what Dino had. "Do you do this every time?"

"Yes!"

Kyouya's eyes flickered to Dino, probably because he didn't recognise his voice. Much like when Kyouko first saw him, he looked at him with wide, curious eyes that were a dark grey in colour. He kept his lips firmly shut, but his expression was enough to ask a question.

Dino pointed to himself. "I'm Tsuna's brother."

Slowly, Kyouya nodded his head.

"Isn't his mom still at home?" Dino asked Ryohei, raising an eyebrow. "Kidnapping isn't a good habit. If your mom finds out, she won't give you any cake."

"Cake!" Kyouko gasped, glancing at her brother in fear.

"She's out with our moms." Ryohei grinned, still showing off the missing tooth. "I still do this when she's there, though. Apparently it's good for him."

From how quiet Kyouya was being, Dino highly doubted that. "If you say so," he murmured, shaking his head as he walked back towards his room. Even though there was shouting like just before as he settled down, at least his name wasn't being called. He wasn't being dragged into their conversations at all, and that was enough for him. Alone time was welcome whilst he was trying to adapt, especially since there were random children within his apartment. A thought hit him as another enemy was killed on his screen; if they were staying over, where would they sleep? Tsuna's bed could only fit Tsuna and maybe one more, so where was Ryouhei and someone else going to go? Before he had arrived, they probably used his bed. "Looks like I'm on the sofa," he mumbled, harshly pressing down on the buttons.

He happily played his game for awhile, until it was definitely dark outside, before venturing out into the kitchen for a drink. He didn't know where they'd wondered off to; the apartment was far too quiet, though he could hear soft footsteps. Taking a can of soft drink into his hand, Dino walked back to his room and was about to shut the door before he felt a tug onto his jumper.

It scared him—he was only just able to catch his drink before it fell onto the floor. Kyouya had tugged onto his clothes, but there was no one else there. Dino stared at him, waiting for an explanation, before he remembered what Ryouhei had said about him speaking.

"...Yes?" Dino looked around to see if anyone else was there, whipping his head back and forth. "Sorry, I don't know where anyone is. Did you lose them?" Kyouya tugged on his jumper again, as if trying to tell him something. Even though he was older than Tsuna, he was still the same height as him. Dino looked visibly confused before he pieced together the silence and the sudden disappearance of everyone. "Are you playing hide and seek?"

Still holding onto Dino's clothes, Kyouya nodded.

At least it's a response, he thought, standing aside so he could welcome him inside. Cautiously Kyouya let go of the other's clothing, looking around the room with large eyes. As Dino shut the door behind him, the other simply stood still and glanced around every now and then. Settling himself down and grabbing the controller again, he said quietly, "You can relax, you know. I don't bite."

He didn't nod again, but he did sit down beside the bed, just watching the screen as Dino played. The sound of footsteps came after awhile, along with laughter, and he had to wonder whether Kyouya was hiding away for real rather than for a game. Didn't they say he enjoyed being with them, although he was reluctant at the start?

He didn't look away from his game as he asked, "Don't you want to play with them?"

When there was no answer, Dino had to take the silence as a no. It had been a good thirty minutes before he decided that it was too awkward to just sit in there—he knew next to nothing about the boy behind him, and that applied to him, too. As he was thinking about what to say to start a conversation, Dino quickly saved his game before turning it off, settling down beside the intruder who'd pulled his knees up to his chest.

"You can always go home," he pointed out before he realised what was wrong. "Oh. I didn't tell you my name, did I?"

Kyouya shook his head—did that mean he was interested?

If he could get along with his neighbour that Tsuna seemed to really like, then there was going to be no problem. "I'm Dino. I already know your name, Kyouya, so don't force yourself to tell me."

The only noise apart from their breathing was someone running around the apartment.

"So... you're five." Nice one, he thought. "I'm eleven."

Only a few minutes later, while they were basking in the glory that was silence, when the door opened and the two youngest in the home came running in. "Kyou-_chan_!" Tsuna and Kyouko said at the same time, climbing all over the boy within seconds. He didn't say anything in return and knew that it was useless to struggle while they were shaking him, silently asking where he had been.

"He's extremely good at hide and seek," Ryouhei announced from the doorway, catching his breath. "I've been running around trying to find him."

Dino had to crack a smile at how they'd neglected his room. "He's been in here since the beginning."

"You win, Kyouya!" Ryouhei exclaimed enthusiastically, punching the air with one fist. "You can choose where you want to sleep tonight!"

That sorted out any doubts he had about where they slept. "Two of you can have my bed," Dino cut in while they were looking at each other curiously. Kyouya had finally been given space again while they were thinking. "You're guests."

Ryouhei punched the air again, shouting louder than before. "You're a real man!"

"I'm just being nice."

One by one they all disappeared—Kyouko into Tsuna's room while Tsuna followed after, and Kyouya had to be ushered somewhere by Ryouhei. As soon as he was alone, Dino sighed before reaching for his pyjamas and then wandered around the apartment to see where the spare blankets were kept. He didn't want to catch a cold. He eventually found in a cupboard within Nana's room, so he grabbed enough to keep him warm for the night. Also changing before the room, he made sure to put his dirty clothes into the baskets that were in each room.

As he was on his way to brush his teeth, he bumped into Kyouko who'd just done the same thing. He could tell from the white around her mouth. "Night," she said, waving the rabbit's hand instead of hers.

"Sleep well," he replied automatically. It was a new thing for him for someone to be there to speak to before they slept. He said the same to Tsuna, who just nodded on his way past, and then Ryouhei, too. Kyouya was nowhere to be seen, even after he'd brushed his teeth. After he'd turned the light off in the living—once everyone else's were off, too—he jumped onto the sofa, wincing at how hard it was, rather than soft.

As hard as he'd tried to fall asleep on it, it just wasn't comfortable enough. Throwing the blankets off of him, he went to get a glass of water before trying to sleep on the floor instead. One of the blankets was below him as a makeshift mattress, while he stole a cushion from the sofa to use as a pillow.

"Better," he announced to himself, puffing his chest out with pride from his new bed.

Nana still wasn't back, and he wasn't quite sure what the time was. Everyone else was sound asleep—well, he could clearly hear Ryouhei as he was either _breathing _loudly or snoring from one of the rooms. If he strained his ears enough, Dino swore that he could hear soft footsteps, too. He shoved that out of his head and continued to attempt to sleep, wrapping the blankets around him like a cocoon.

The footsteps were hard to ignore when they were right by his head. Dino peeked out from under his blanket, only seeing a small pair of legs and no clue as to who it was. The moonlight would only allow him to make out small details, so to put his speculation to an end he lifted up his left arm—as his right was under his head as he was lying down—and held up the blanket. They climbed in without hesitating, making it so their forehead was pressed against Dino's chest. Dino shuffled to get comfy again while wrapping the blanket around them.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, groggily.

The answer he got was only one word, but it was enough to realise who it was. "Cold," Kyouya answered, shuffling closer.

Certainly, if he could get along with this strange neighbour, coaxing his brother to talk to him normally was going to be a piece of cake.

**AN: **I really have no idea how children act. Thank you for whoever helped me with this! And for Kuro for betaing the first part. If anyone wants to offer to beta this story, I'll love you forever! The chapters will add one year onto their age each time until it slows down later on.

So, Dino's an independent child who's used to no one being home and not comfortable with family. Tsuna's a coward who hates change. Kyouko's his best friend who likes rabbits and likes to see people smile. Ryouhei's an idiot who accidentally hurts people and claims it was "sports" when they were unaware. Kyouya's quiet, smile sometimes, and isn't violent. Yet. Spoilers for the next chapter time!

_"Your mom is a... guy."_  
><em>"Uncle Colon! Stop cosplaying and get a job!"<em>


	2. Little Lemon Jasmines

**xGreibx:** Haha, thank you! **Chocolate-Sweets: **Annie, you have a really strange user name. I swear it was different a few months ago? Nevertheless, 'sup, girl! More, more, _more _for you! **ayameD18: **That was my intentional! Little Kyouya is cute! :D **nekoneko: **The one word is intentional, don't worry. **Chi Chesire Neko: **Why, thank you! I'm afraid you won't see the morning after; you'll see a year after instead. Don't worrry, they're still awkward with each other still. ;) **asdfghjkl: **As soon as I saw your name in the email, I smiled. Your reviews always make me smile! You can't take little Kyouya home; that would be virutal kidnapping. I'm sorry, I don't know children! /glomps you **eternalilith: **Thank you, Nee-sama! :D Really, the most impressiois a good boy! impressionable bit was Kyouya? He's so cute~ **NothingIcansay: **/revives you **nightingale mistress: **Don't die from the cuteness! There's more to come! ;A; You're never online so I don't want to bother you, lmao. **KurosawaCP: **So was I! Mama, are you a guy? **naiYin: **This is more than one sentence, dear little sister. Oho, I secretly knew that and wrote this for you! Not my own want to write children. LOL. I shall, I shall! :D LOL. Colonnello isn't Kyouya's dad, but nice try. **Stranger: **Thank you for the sweet review! **Imitation Angel: **Hurr. **retrace: **Oh, you. But I'm banned from writing cute things, how can I give you a new chapter? **ZirciX: **Thank you, haha! I have _no _idea what children are like any more. **The Red Undertaker: **Haha, good to hear! Nope! Alaude is part of Kyouya's family, though. **boobs: **Yui, my love. Thank you! Levi will come in soon, don't you worry. **Jasmin Liertha: **Of course he will! Yes, Uncle Colon is Colonnello~ Why hasn't anyone ever called him Colon before? lol. He's not really their uncle at all. :D

_家庭教師ヒットマン _REBORN! © _天野明 _

**two: little lemon jasmines.  
><strong>_Hey, I want to meet you right now._

"Oh, there's no reason to worry," Dino said swiftly, wincing as the cold wind struck him in the face, "Ryouhei's just gone off to fetch his sister. He doesn't like letting her walk home alone."

"He doesn't normally disappear so quickly. I always see him with you," Bianchi said from beside him, crossing her arms over her chest from the sudden chill. From her expression, it was easy to tell that she regretted having pulled her hair back into a bun earlier that afternoon. She had been more concerned with how she looked that day rather than what the temperature was. "So why is today any different?"

Yamamoto, a male who had happened to shoot up from what seemed like over the weekend due to black magic, laughed whilst placing his arms behind his head. "He's just clearing up his room, isn't he? I know I would be right now." He waggled his eyebrows for added effect, causing Bianchi to turn her head away in disgust. Even though it was obvious that puberty had struck for _some _of them, she refused to acknowledge it until she considered herself a woman. "This really is the first time I'm going to see where he lives."

"You do realise that I'm his neighbour, don't you?" Dino added with a amused expression. They both looked at him in shock for a moment before shaking their heads. "I don't live a few streets away. I can literally _hear _him snore each night."

Bianchi placed her perfectly manicured hand onto his shoulder. "You're a brave man."

"You could say that," he agreed with a grimace. "Ryouhei really has gone to get his sister. Normally she walks home with my brother, but he's gone shopping with Mom today."

"Neglected!" Yamamoto proclaimed before whistling in innocence. Dino shook off his behaviour with a smile—he'd learned to understand the odd sense of humour each of his friends possessed, especially the two in front of them. Although at first they weren't particularly welcoming, they'd happened to bond over time. Naturally, he had become accustomed to all the noise that Ryouhei made, too. "How long until we arrive at your place?"

"About ten minutes?" He shrugged his shoulders. He never had the experience of walking home alone; mostly because Ryouhei wasn't _allowed _to be absent after most of his suspensions. Even when he'd had to have a day off from one of his actions being classed as violence again, he still appeared to talk to his friends. "It doesn't seem that long, though. I won't bore you."

"I'm just worried that idiot over there is going to get bored and befriend some child," Bianchi murmured, rolling her eyes as she gazed to her right at Yamamoto. Over time he had gathered that they were close, so when he'd bluntly asked if they were lovers or anything remotely similar, he'd gotten his answer rather quickly. They were just childhood friends—that was all there was to it. Dino understood from comparing how Tsuna and Kyouko acted to the two in front of him. They fit together like a puzzle. "Possibly that child over there."

Yamamoto decided to exclaim his surprise from seeing a child walking alone. "There's neglect everywhere!"

There was something oddly familiar about the red backpack that Dino could see. He squinted his eyes to try and figure it out, before he attention was diverted to the two beside him squabbling.

"You can't just say that aloud!" Bianchi scolded him, hitting his shoulder. "You could offend a lot of people." When he saw the kid turn his head, to look for any cars before crossing, Dino finally realised who it was. He quickly apologised to his two friends, asking if they could walk ahead and meet him at Ryouhei's apartment as there was something he needed to do first. He apologised profusely, even going as far as to bow. "Stop wasting time." Bianchi rolled her eyes. "I'll direct us. It'll be fine, see you soon, Dino."

The tallest male was offended at all. "Don't make us wait long!"

"Yeah, see you soon," Dino agreed with a smile before running along the pavement to catch up to the small child that was still waiting to cross the road. As he watched him set one foot onto the road, Dino quickly called, "Kyouya!"

To confirm his suspicions, Kyouya whipped his head around to the sound of his name with a confused expression. He stepped back onto the pavement, smoothing out his uniform to appear presentable. It was a habit that had been quickly picked up on—whenever Kyouya was unaware someone was by him until they called his name, he'd make sure to fiddle with his clothes while looking. It wasn't a new experience for Dino to see him in his kindergarten uniform, but it was new to see the backpack on him, too. He stared wordlessly up at Dino as the older male caught his breath back, standing right beside him.

"That could have been dangerous," Dino scolded him, crouching down so they were almost eye level. "Where's your mom?"

He still tried to avoid speech, but knew that it was inevitable. "Not home."

"Why didn't you tell me this morning?" Dino ran his fingers through his hair, thinking back to that morning to see if there were any clues. Just before he had taken Tsuna to school, he'd seen Kyouya standing outside, but had assumed that Oregano had been running late. Did that mean he ventured to school all by himself, too? "You know I could have taken you with Tsuna."

When Kyouya just stared as innocently as he could with his large eyes, Dino stood back up at his full height and slipped his hand into the smaller male's.

"I'll walk you home," he announced, the rush of responsibility hitting him hard. It was a first for him, having to escort Kyouya somewhere that wasn't by their homes. "Just tell me if I walk too fast."

The most conversation they had was from Dino muttering to himself, putting the blame all on him. Had he missed when Nana had mentioned that Oregano was going to be away, or was it supposed to be Ryouhei's mom's responsibility, and Kyouya had purposely walked away? From the small smile that was across Kyouya's lips, Dino decided not to question him—it was good that he was happy. Just as Ryouhei had said, the smiles were rare, but they were worth it in the end.

Seeing that Kyouya was in a happy mood, Dino asked, "What did you do today?"

"Pictures."

"You mean you painted," Dino supplied, "or drew pictures in art class?"

He was pushing it. Kyouya didn't reply; he just kept on walking while making sure to check the roads before crossing. It was as though he didn't trust Dino completely to check through their journey. He was always cautious, though, even if they were settling down in a living room round one of their houses. As the they walked, Dino became aware that the smaller male was having some trouble. Every now and then he would stumble before walking faster to catch up to him and make up time.

Finally sighing in mock exasperation, Dino halted to a stop and dropped down to eye level again. "Stop being stubborn." He pushed Kyouya's black bangs back, revealing his pale forehead and the eyebrows that were furrowed together. "You can't see properly with your hair this long." As he pulled a hair band off of his wrist—the one that he had to use in his sport related lessons something—and got ready to tie together the hair so it was out of Kyouya's face, he hadn't quite expected the reaction he'd receive.

The unexpected happened. Moisture welled up in Kyouya's eyes, surely making his vision blurry, as his expression contorted completely. It was a one-eighty of what he usually looked like. The normally blank Kyouya had scrunched his features up as tears started to run down his cheeks, and as Dino stared at him, all he could think was that he looked younger than usual.

"K-Kyouya?" he spluttered, panicking whilst thinking what had caused the reaction. It was the first time that he'd ever seen Kyouya cry at all, or look at least _close _to crying. Ryouhei had mentioned that he'd never seen, or heard, him cry—but no one was invincible. Of course everyone would cry at some point. He took the hair band out quickly, pulling Kyouya towards him and hugging him tightly in apology. Even though he was sure that the younger male was still crying, only his breathing had become louder. There were no exaggerated sniffs, nor strange noises, much like what Tsuna produced whenever something had happened to him. "I'm sorry." He repeated the same two words over, and over.

Kyouya tugged on Dino's shirt, not saying anything at all.

A few minutes later when Kyouya's breathing had calmed down, Dino pulled away after giving him one last squeeze. "Kyouya, I didn't mean to..." Do _what_? "I never wanted to upset you."

Smoothing his bangs out, Kyouya nodded, clutching Dino's hand once again. When they walked that time, Dino made sure they were walking slow enough that he didn't trip over again.

-x-

"Kyouko, don't go over to that beast over there. He'll hurt you." Bianchi scowled towards Yamamoto, clutching Kyouko close to her. The young girl didn't mind the attention; rather, she welcomed the embrace from the elder female. "Black hair means they're the spawn of the devil."

"Spawn?" Kyouko questioned, looking up curiously.

With a small smile, Bianchi corrected herself. "Children of the devil!"

"D-devil." Kyouko gulped, her wide eyes darting to the two males just out of earshot. Kyouya and Tsuna were conversing together; or, rather, Tsuna was holding a one-sided conversation with himself whilst poking the other male in the shoulder. "How can I get the devil to go from Kyou-_chan_?"

Bianchi had to shake her head to not be swayed by the large eyes staring at her. "Kyouko." She cleared her throat, placing her hands on Kyouko's shoulders. "There's still a chance for him. That's if you do some things..."

Dino shook his head at their behaviour, looking out of the corner of his eye as Yamamoto and Ryouhei excitedly exchanged words. He didn't mind them, most of the time they were murmuring about some sort of sport related subject that he had absolutely no interest in. His lips curled into a smile when saw Tsuna shaking Kyouya in the corner, most likely demanding to know why he wasn't replying.

Trying to imagine the tear stained face from earlier seemed impossible. Dino was sitting across a small coffee table from Ryouhei, so he _quietly _made a hissing noise with his lips to catch the other's attention. When it didn't work, and everyone was still carrying on with their own conversations_,_ he cupped his mouth with one hand and whispered loudly, "Damn it, _Ryouhei_!"

"Yes!" The other saluted before having a confused expression. "What?" he whispered right back, though it was considerably louder. He leaned over the table to hear what Dino had to say, and the other copied his movements, too.

"Have you seen Kyouya cry before?" Dino murmured into his ear. "Really, have you?"

"No!" Ryouhei exclaimed loudly.

"Stop being all romantic, you two," Bianchi said loudly in a mocking tone. Dino shot her a glare whilst Yamamoto laughed openly, definitely agreeing with her, and forgetting that they'd said the same thing when he'd appeared at Ryouhei's door with Kyouya standing beside him. "There are children here, you know!"

"You're more of a child than any of them," he shot back with a playful scowl. Slumping back down on the floor, now that the subject had been changed, Dino couldn't help but notice that Kyouko was dramatically clutching one of Kyouya's hands, whilst Tsuna had the other one. There were some tears there, too, but they were definitely not from Kyouya that time. "What did you say to her?" Dino murmured towards Bianchi, his stare a clear hint at what he meant.

"She's purging the demon out of him." Bianchi snorted, pulling the hair band out of her hand to let it hang loosely. The purple shade—definitely dyed—caught the light in just the right way to catch attention. "Can't you tell?"

Dino groaned, shaking his head at the things that children believed. "Please tell me there not going to be chanting."

As Bianchi grinned and showed her teeth, a jumbled mess came out of Kyouko's and Tsuna's mouths as they tried to get the right words. They weren't in time, nor were they pronouncing any of them the right way. Kyouya was looking at them both blankly, as if they had grown second heads. They'd decided to hold each other's hands, too, so it looked like they were playing a game from afar.

"Fabulous," Dino remarked sarcastically, "chanting. That's what I've always wanted to hear from my little brother."

They stopped murmuring a few moments after that, looking up at Kyouya with a hopeful expression on their face. Tsuna was biting his lip, whilst Kyouko had tightened her hand around his. Kyouya just continued to stare, silently demanding what the whole thing had been about.

"The d-demon's got him!" Tsuna wailed, instantly letting go of their hands and running over to Dino. He tripped at the last moment and fell head first beside him, banging his forehead on the floor. Crocodile tears came soon after, along with the wailing that Dino had become accustomed to.

"There, there," Dino comforted him, pulling him close. As Tsuna clutched his head, Dino pushed his bangs out of the way to inspect if there were any bumps. None whatsoever, but he still needed to humour him. "You'll be a unicorn for awhile, everyone's going to be jealous, you know."

"Tsu-_chan_'s a unicorn?" Kyouko asked in fascination. She quickly walked over to where they were, inspecting his forehead and running her fingers through his hair. "I see no horn!" As soon as she'd touched him, the tears and exaggerated sniffing had stopped—instead, he made a noise of surprise and clutched his forehead, as if hiding his lack of horn.

"I don't want to be a unicorn," Tsuna mumbled, blushing, "I want to be like everyone else."

Kyouko butted in. "Can I be a unicorn instead?" As Dino rolled his eyes, Bianchi expertly intervened between them and coaxed the duo to come her way. Although Tsuna was wary of her at first, he soon brightened up and smiled—much like he had done after a few weeks with Dino—and was more than happy enough to laugh with her. When Dino questioned her, whilst the two were getting a few toys to show her, she had admitted that she had a younger brother, around their age at her home.

Yamamoto was the only one awkward with kids. By the time Dino had turned his attention back to Yamamoto and Ryouhei, they were both trying to lure Kyouya over from where he had been sitting for most of that time. Ryouhei was trying to resist just walking over there and then forcefully bringing the older male over, whilst Yamamoto was making some sort of _clucking _noise with his tongue to get his attention. Did that mean he viewed him as a pet? Amused from watching them all interact, Dino rested his chin on his palm and watched. He closed his eyes after a few moments, finding that the much needed darkness was healthy for his eyes.

When he heard footsteps, he supposed that one of their tactics had finally worked. Instead of Kyouya coming towards them, though, he'd sat down on Dino's lap and had his back pressed against Dino's chest. Glancing down, just to confirm that he had a stubborn expression on his face, Dino grinned. "I guess he just likes me more," he exclaimed smugly, shrugging his shoulders. Although he had tried to hide his surprise, it was another first for that day—the first time Kyouya had sat on his lap, rather than beside him.

"Did you lure him with sweets?" Yamamoto asked, jokingly narrowing his eyes. "Cheater."

Ryouhei's reaction was completely different, but it was still humorous. "Teach me your ways, master."

Holding one hand palm up for them to see, Dino answered dramatically, "I'm afraid I'm not taking any students right now. Sign up next year, please."

They laughed fondly together whilst the front door slowly opened in front of them. Dino knew what to expect—it was Ryouhei's _mother _coming back home, and that was enough for him to be curious about what their friends' reactions were going to be. The first time he'd finally understood he'd been too shocked to say anything before being pulled into a hug. He grinned at Kyouya instead, looking down so he didn't spoil it for himself.

From the small gasps, it was safe to say that they were surprised. "Your mom is a... _guy_," Yamamoto said bluntly, still in the same ever cheerful tone. Bianchi hadn't said anything to that—she was still playing with Kyouko at that point.

Kyouko left her arms almost immediately, running towards her mom and hugging her leg affectionately. "Mama!" Kyouko said happily.

"Kyouko!" Lussuria replied, picking her up and holding her to his chest. Although their _mom _was male, he preferred to be that figure as he believed he was more feminine. With a pair of sunglasses almost permanently covering his eyes and strange, sometimes obscene, hairstyles it wasn't hard to believe. At that point in time he had a mohawk shaved into his hair, whilst some strands were dyed a shade of green. Apart from a cooking apron Dino had seen a few times when he had been over, Lussuria never wore anything that was from the women's department in the clothing store. "Have you been a good girl?"

Kyouko decided that wasn't what was important at that moment. "There's a devil in Kyou-_chan_!"

Lussuria pursed his lips. "Is that so?" he murmured, eyes flashing towards him and Dino. "He's sitting on a devil is more like it."

Dino pouted as Kyouko defended his honour. "But he doesn't have black hair! He's _yellow _like the sun!" She pointed up through the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," Dino said abruptly, lifting one hand to land on his head. He purposely pressed down on his scalp to make it look like his hair had moved. "It's a wig."

When Kyouko and Tsuna screamed, they couldn't help but laugh.

-x-

"Tsuna, be careful, okay?" Nana said, poking his nose lightly. The young boy grinned in return, standing upright beside his brother whilst bouncing in excitement. "Don't scare them away too quickly. None of us have taken them out for a night out yet."

"I get it, you just want another friend." Dino rolled his eyes, attempting to move Tsuna along from his spot. "We'll only be there a few minutes. Tsuna's excited to see them again."

Nana grinned in return. "Off with go."

As they both exited the apartment with Tsuna still seeming to be too excited, he was even _worse _when Kyouko joined them, too. She was an exact copy of him; bouncing around, grinning, and making sure to make as much eye contact as possible. A new couple had moved into one of the apartments above a few weeks before. Although none of the families were close yet, since they were particularly nice to the children—even the first time they'd greeted them—they had soon become attached to them. The only problem they were having, though, was with Kyouya. As cautious as he was, there were always problems. Namely, being that he didn't trust strangers all too much; but then that raised a question, why did he accept Dino so quickly? They first night they'd known each other, Kyouya had chosen sleeping with him over Ryouhei.

Knocking on the door to his apartment, the one who answered happened to be his mother rather than Kyouya himself.

The first time Dino had met her, he'd assumed he had the wrong apartment. She had light blond hair, purple irides and black rimmed glasses perched elegantly on her nose. Always dressed in some sort of suit, or a shirt and then jeans for casual wear, she was mostly serious. "Dino," Oregano greeted him, sleepily. For once she wasn't dressed, nor was her hair fixed into a messy bun on the side of her head. It was all hanging down, to her shoulder blades, whilst her attire was that of a white t-shirt and then a pair of shorts. "What are you doing here?"

He was pretty sure it was ten o'clock in the morning on a Saturday. Maybe she had to work late again? "We're going upstairs to see Lal," he announced, tilting his head to indicate the duo by his legs. "Does Kyouya want to come?"

"Kyouya's... not here."

"Kyou_-chan_'s gone?" Tsuna asked in a quiet voice.

"He'll be back by Monday, but he probably won't want to see you for awhile," Oregano announced, smoothing her hair out. "Maybe next weekend, then. Unless you want to come by and talk sense into him, Dino."

He blinked, surprised at the offer. "I will."

"And I'm going back to bed," she announced with a yawn. "Have fun, kids."

As soon as the door was closed, Tsuna was tugging on his brother's trousers to get his attention. "Where's Kyou-_chan_?" he asked, his eyes and curious. Kyouko's expression was the exact same, apart from the hair that was falling into her face. "He said he'd be here."

"He forgot," Dino assured them both with a soothing smile, "that's all."

It turned out to be a good thing that Kyouya wasn't there, in the end. He would've stuck to Dino whilst their were in the new couple's apartment, not wanting to converse with them. Dino watched with a smile whilst he saw the duo choosing a new victim to climb all over instead. Rather than being all over another child, they were instead on a young man—who'd barely passed his twenties—by the name of Colonnello. The male had bright blond hair, rivalling Dino's, that stuck up in tufts at the top of his head. As if to calm it down, or show off his occupation, he tended to place a bandanna around it. Whilst wearing a matching army uniform sometimes, or casual wear that seemed too out of place on him, he grinned whenever someone came to see him.

"You're going to kill me, you two." He laughed fondly, purposely ruffling their hair so the strands soon looked like a birds nest. "Are you that happy to see me?"

It turned out that no one under the age of ten could pronounce his name properly. "Uncle Colon!" Kyouko giggled, smoothing out her hair. Since they had introduced themselves as a new uncle and aunty, it made sense that the names stuck. "You're mean!"

"Mean?" He gasped, covering his hands with his mouth. "If I'm mean, then I wouldn't give you advice."

Tsuna cut in. "We want to know!"

"If a stranger ever comes up to you in the street," Colonnello said seriously, his blue irides sparkling with amusement, "you must ask them a question before you go anywhere with them." They looked at him in awe, openly ready to accept any information that he was going to offer. "And that important question is..." He stalled, grinning. "What candy do you have?"

"And this is why I don't want children with _him_," Lal announced to Dino, settling down at the dining table with a cup of coffee. She closed her eyes as she took a sip, not minding all of the wrong information that her boyfriend was providing young children. She was one or two years older than him, but no one could tell from her appearance. Much like Oregano, she had hair that just reached her shoulder blades, which was a shiny shade of dark blue. She preferred to wear casual clothes most of the times; probably to attempt to make her stand out less whenever she walked around with Colonnello. "He's an idiot."

"At least you know he's liked," Dino remarked. They did like Lal, too, but preferred to be able to jump all over whoever they were talking about. "They could secretly hate him."

From the reaction of the children, it was obvious that Dino's musing was ridiculous. He wasn't all too fond of the new couple all that much, but he volunteered to visit them, so it wasn't awkward for any parents that didn't know how to start a conversation. As much as Nana had gushed that she wanted to get to know the other woman, she had paced her kitchen multiple times whilst trying to think about what a good welcoming gift would be. Two weeks later, she was still wondering. Oregano didn't seem bothered, and Lussuria had said he'd wait until Nana was ready to appear round.

"Uncle Colon, tell us another story," Kyouko asked, sitting on the floor that time.

Crossing his arms, Colonnello stubbornly said, "They're not _stories_. They're real."

"Cosplaying!" Tsuna corrected him happily. He grinned up at the older male, showing that he meant no harm in his words. No one believed that he was actually in the army—he seemed too playful to be there, after all. In the end, he just liked to dress up and tell random stories that no one knew what he was going on about.

"My clothes are real!" he defended himself childishly. "I don't _lie_."

"He's lying," Lal practically sang, enjoying the playful glare that came her way. "He likes to dress up. On Tuesdays, he's a princess."

"Uncle Colon!" Kyouko and Tsuna said at the same time, determination in their eyes as they each grabbed onto one shoulder and shook him. "Stop cosplaying and get a job!" They shook him as hard as they could, as if to shake sense into him. "We don't want Aunt Lal to leave you!"

"So they're worried about his love life." Lal shook her head, rolling her eyes. "What odd children."

"Odd isn't the right word," Dino agreed, smiling in good humour.

"What's the other one?" she asked, raising a thin eyebrow at him. "The boy who's normally glued to your side."

Dino shrugged his shoulders. "Kyouya's not at home for a few days."

"Guess you're all alone then, eh?"

He chose to ignore that she implied that they were always together. "Only until Ryouhei's back from baseball practice."

**AN: **I still have no idea how children act! Thank you to my lovely friend, Yuka, for suggesting the demon have black hairs scenes. If anyone wants to get me some ideas, they'll be welcomed warmly! So... Kyouya crying for the first time is actually a rather big part of the story. It'll be explained later, as I think no one will understand just yet? If it wasn't obvious already, Kyouko and Tsuna aren't just side characters. They're there for a reason, for once. Thank you so much for the reviews, by the way! It's nice to know that readers actually bother to drop in a comment, haha.

_"If you ever need me, just knock on the wall between us."  
>"Dino, could you talk to him? He won't calm down."<br>_


	3. A Small, Fluffy Mimosa

**Imitation Angel: **I like fluff. **Stranger: **If I cry, would I be adorable, too? :( **retrace: **Let's all be unicorns together! Forever! **Jasmin Liert****ha: **Yup, Lussuria is their "mom". Not biologically, of course. Thank you! I've probably got them all wrong for their ages, so I apologise. xD **eternalilith: **They're adorable because _I don't know children, __waaah lolol. _Yes, Uncle Colon! He's the best! :D If you didn't suggest the "demons have black hair" idea, then who did? I was talking to only you at the time LOL. What is this witch craft? Don't say Oregano doesn't care! DAMN GOOD MAN! **asdfghjkl: **I-I make you love D18 even more? I love you! I only want you to think he's a cute kid, not want to have him in your bed rofl. Sorry for the confusion there, then. ;) It could be either Dino's charm or that he's a better candidate to be Kyouya's big brother rather than Ryouhei. **shalja-trio: **Thank you! ...I really want some pizza now. Seriously. OTL **The Red Undertaker: **Why, thank you! Because it's cute little things, right? :D hahaha! Don't worry Lussuria isn't their biological mother or father. Not related at all. **ayameD18: **You're nosebleeding at a child! D: We've got the same favourites, then! :D I'm not going to say why he was crying, but Kyouya doesn't want anyone to see as he's the only "man" in his house. And as he's been told by Ryouhei before, "men don't cry," so that's why. **Queen Lexi: **Thank you! **SkylarkLove: **Gz for logging in for once! :D /blushes forever. I'm trying to tone down my sense of humour for this rofl, as most people don't understand it. I love you for reviewing! **nightingale mistress: **The scream would be from me, I can assure you now. ;w; Oho... The crying shall remain a secret for evermore. Lussuria is amazing, okay, everyone should have seen him coming rofl. I like to include him randomly. Yes, Haru's coming soon (but it won't be obvious at first). I'll be sure to include your ideas! **YourHusbandShiShiRuke3: **I'm obsessed with you. ;D **BLANK: **Hahaha, Annie! A Google translate war, is it? Go, Google, with your language butchering skills! この奇妙な女の子！ヽ(#`Д´)ﾉ あなたは何を期待していますか？ルッスーリアは偉大な母です！彼は思いやりだし、エプロンで素敵に見えます。（●´∀｀）ノ と私はコロネロはドレスでちょうど破線に見えると思った。リボンやコルセットと王女のドレス！このアップデートは、すぐには十分ですか？ **nekoneko: **Thank you! **Eyes17****k: **Good to see you again, Eyes! LOLOL. Children flock to me, too. When I worked at a preschool for a week, there were children fighting over who could sit on my lap. xD **ilovesmilingfools: **Yup! That's the way I intended it to be, haha. Confusing.

_家庭教師ヒットマン _REBORN! © _天野明 _

**three: a small, fluffy** **mimosa.**  
><em>I just keep letting my chance slip by.<em>**  
><strong>

As Dino retraced his steps of the past few years, his lips curled into a smile. He had almost walked that way by accident that morning, before he'd had to remind himself that he'd graduated. From transferring into to the elementary school late, he had assumed that he would have been fine with being a new kid. But when he was surrounded with many others in his position, too, he couldn't feed off of their nervous energy. Instead, he'd gotten nervous himself before Yamamoto had appeared and harshly hit him on the back in greeting. The other male didn't know his own strength, and he proved that again when they'd found out that they were in different classes. He hadn't even been able to find Bianchi that day, too, so it had been more than awkward to trudge towards a new class, full of completely different people.

Certainly he never remembered having as many weird teachers as he had at that point in time. The first day had been hectic; although there were no real lessons, teachers still took it upon themselves to walk around and greet everyone. There were introductory games, too, so the students could get to know each other. It seemed as though in Dino's main class, though, that each student knew at least one other that in the class. Dino had sat there awkwardly at first before the conversations started. Most of them were going to meet up after school to get to know each other better, but he had something better to do.

Dino had apologised many times, promising to go out at another point in time, that probably wasn't going to come around for at least the duration of the first year.

He walked through the entrance to his old school, nodding to the familiar faces that he passed. He could spot who he had come to meet immediately—the younger male was settled down on one of the wooden benches, arms crossed whilst clad in a new uniform.

"Kyouya!" Dino called, grinning as the other's head snapped up instantly. Rather than displaying the usually emotionless expression, it was easy to see that he was relieved. As soon Dino was close enough, he ruffled Kyouya's black hair with his hand, making it stand up more than it usually did. "Did you forget I was coming?"

"I waited," Kyouya replied softly, furrowing his eyebrows. He didn't look happy nor relieved any longer—was he that concerned about his hair? The reason could have been that he had been alone all day, though. There was no Kyouko or Tsuna to annoy him through breaks or when walking to and from school any more. Oregano was still a work, so when he'd heard that she was having a problem with thinking about what to do, Dino had happily volunteered to walk him home whenever need be.

"Sorry I took so long." Dino smiled, dropping down to crouch so they were at eye level. "I couldn't get away from my new classmates quick enough."

Rather than showing a positive reaction to his apology, Kyouya jutted his lower lip out and looked down at his feet. "I thought you'd be here," he murmured.

Dino blinked. "I am here."

"I was looking for you." He was still looking down at his feet, firmly seated on the bench, as he spoke. "Why weren't you here?" Kyouya sounded offended at that point, and Dino finally understood what he meant. Whenever he'd passed with Oregano, she'd probably pointed to the school and had said that he went there. Since it was only both of their first days, Kyouya most likely hadn't been told that Dino had graduated and moved on.

"I'm too old to go here," he explained softly, using his index finger to push Kyouya's chin up and catch his attention. "I go to a different school now, and then I'll move on from there."

"No one's here."

"I may not be here during the day," Dino started, abruptly standing up and holding his hand out for the younger male to take hold of, "but I'll be here to walk you home every day."

Kyouya nodded before taking hold of his hand. Since the incident before, Dino had always made sure to walk slowly so he wouldn't cause the other to stumble, and for the same events to reoccur. He still had no idea whatsoever about why he had started crying, nor had he seen him cry again after that. Even when Ryouhei had accidentally hit him too hard with a toy or a ball whilst passing, he'd just have a pained expression, but no tears. Dino had wanted to ask him bluntly, but bringing it up seemed to be taboo.

Just before they were going to walk out of the entrance, Dino peeked out of the corner of his eye to see whether the smaller male had cheered up. And, to his relief, a small smile was spread across Kyouya's lips.

His attention was elsewhere, so when someone bumped into Dino's shoulder and caused him to stumble in surprise he made a noise of disbelief. He shot an annoyed look to the person beside him—who had stopped—before blinking in surprise.

"Oh... you're in my class," he said awkwardly, clearing his throat. Getting into a fight with one of his classmates wasn't a good idea, especially when they were as weird as the one beside him. Although he didn't remember his name, Dino recognised the blue hair—similar to Lal's—that was parted in the middle. Due to what he had said was a birth defect when he'd introduced himself, the male had one scarlet iris, whilst the other was cerulean. "Watch where you're going."

"It was this brat's fault," he ground out, visibly annoyed as he indicated with his head to a child by his feet. Dino's classmate was gripping them by their shoulders, trying to keep the smaller male in place. The child had teal hair, along with irides, and some sort of markings underneath his eyes. "Apologise or you're not getting dinner."

"No!" the green-haired male refused, pouting. "That teacher was _lying._"

Surprisingly, the older male decided to whack the back of his head with a audible thump. "Not about that. You knocked into these two."

The kid's head snapped round to inspect the two of them, and his eyes visibly widened. Kyouya reacted, too, by squeezing Dino's hand and staying firmly by his side. "It was his fault."

"Fran," the blue-haired male hissed, whilst pushing down the child's finger that he had been pointing with, "stop being an embarrassment and _apologise_."

Dino glanced down beside him to inspect Kyouya's reaction; from the frown he could see and narrowed eyes, it was certain that he didn't like the newcomers that had appeared. "Sorry," Dino said in place of Fran, "but we've got to get going. I'll see you tomorrow in class, oh..." He trailed off when he remembered he didn't know his classmates' name. "Yeah."

Although they were walking faster than normal, Kyouya was keeping up without a problem. "He got in trouble and blamed me," Kyouya announced when they were close to their homes.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Although the younger male was quiet, he wasn't one to be violent or cause fights. "You don't have to talk to people like that."

"I didn't do anything wrong?" he questioned, staring up at Dino.

Turning his head so he could look at him, Dino answered with a smile. "Never."

As they were walking, a thought struck Dino. When he had first moved in, there were heavy curtains covering part of his wall, so when he'd pulled them back and saw that there was a door that was made almost completely of glass which a lock upon the side, he was surprised. It had led to a shared garden between all of the apartments, and he had soon found out the other apartments beside him had similar doors. For Kyouya's apartment, the door was within his room, whilst in the next one, it was for Ryouhei.

He remembered how Kyouya went to extreme lengths to hide from Ryouhei whenever the older male went over there to summon him, so Dino decided that his idea would be helpful.

"If you ever need me, just knock on the wall between us." He smiled, surprised to see Kyouya was taken a back. There was only a thin wall between the two of them, so of course he'd be able to hear and then walk out into the garden to see what was wrong. "Even if you're trying to hide from Ryouhei, I'll help."

-x-

"So," Dino stared, staring at the other across the coffee table. They were seated in his apartment, whilst Kyouko and Tsuna were off to the side, comparing the colours of their uniform now. It was fast news that they were no longer in the same class, yet had still went running to each other through break—the teacher, and the bumps on their forehead, and told Ryouhei when he'd arrived to pick them up. Much like Dino, he had volunteered for walking them home, as all of their mothers needed to work more often. "Which class did you end up in?"

"I have no idea whatsoever!" Ryouhei announced happily, punching the air with one of his fists. For a moment, he grinned wickedly before it disappeared. "That means I have _no _idea where I'm going tomorrow. Damn it."

"Well, who was in your class?" Dino asked, amused as he rested his chin upon his palm. His failures always seemed less than the idiot in front of him—he was close to missing the entrance exam in the beginning, just because he had overslept and then walked in the wrong direction for a good amount of time. "Anyone at all that you know?"

"Well, Bianchi was there, of course. But since I kind of..." He looked off to the side, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "She's not going to be talking to me for awhile, I think. So I'm abandoned!"

"Oh gosh," Dino murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What did you do _now_?"

"I just said she needed a rabies shot before she found you!" Ryouhei defended himself, as though he was in the right for admitting it bluntly. "She was looking around for you like a monster."

"Well, of course." He blinked. "I didn't see her this morning—I thought she was late, actually."

"Bianchi, late?" Ryouhei burst into a fit of laughter, from knowing her longer than the other had. "That girl has been an one hour since we were young. She's _never _late."

"How would I know that?" Dino shot back. "I was only in her class for one year!"

"I was in her class for two, and I knew in a few weeks!" Ryouhei replied heatedly. "And _I'm_ an idiot!"

They were definitely getting off topic and that point, and attracting unwanted attention. Dino cleared his throat, smiling softly when Tsuna looked at him curiously before minding his own business and carrying on to poke Kyouko in the cheek. "Yes, yes," Dino humoured him, "we all know you're an idiot. But that doesn't explain why she was looking for me."

"You're not her favourite," he said childishly, "it'll always be Yamamoto with his hands of glory."

"Hands of... glory?" Dino blinked; he hadn't heard that said about the taller male before. Although they were quite good friends, he was more familiar with Bianchi since she had been in his class. Yamamoto had just appeared one day whilst they were walking to another class and had tackled her. They hadn't met up outside of school a lot either. Ryouhei and him, though, were on extremely good terms as they went to sports practice together. "Is he better than you at catch, then?"

"Catch, baseball, basketball, tennis..." He was counting off the sports on his hand with a playful scowl. "Damn it!" Ryouhei roared, scrunching his face up in annoyance. "I _will _beat him, you hear me? I will!"

"Okay, okay," Dino murmured in a soothing voice, smiling in assurance when he saw Kyouko look towards them in concern. The duo were crowded around one of the many books on the floor in the corner, animatedly looking at each page and whispering to each other. Whenever Dino or Ryouhei raised their voices, they'd turn their heads round as quickly as possible to see what was happening. They were concerned, but not running over to inspect the scene of the crime just yet. "Calm down, Kyouko's going to have a heart attack soon."

"Kyouko!" he shouted, taking Dino's words seriously and not realising that he was joking at all. "Is your heart okay?"

She tried to match his volume, but it didn't work too well. "My heart's thumping!"

Once again, Ryouhei took a comment the wrong way. He shot up from his seat within seconds, running towards his sister and diving onto the floor beside her. He looked over her in concern, placing his ear against her chest to see whether her heart was stable before breathing a sigh of relief. During the time that the siblings were having an idiotic moment together, Tsuna had excused himself quietly and had walked towards his own brother. He had a small habit of trying to copy the minor things that Kyouya did, so Tsuna had become accustomed to sitting down on his older brother's lap, much as he had seen Kyouya do beforehand.

Wrapping his arms around his brother, Dino smiled down at him. "Comfy?" he asked, pleased to see Tsuna returning the smile back to him. Turning his head back to the ridiculous male who was playing with his sister, Dino asked loudly, "Did you get dropped on your head as a child?"

Without hesitation, Ryouhei replied, "Of course. A couple of times, actually."

"Really?" Dino sounded surprise, his expression shocked, too. He hadn't expected a serious answer; and from how Ryouhei had moved his hands to cover his sister's ears, he supposed it really was. "I was just joking, you know."

Ryouhei shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal. Still, he kept his hands firmly over Kyouko's ears. "It happens, we weren't in the right place at the right time."

He was almost afraid to ask. "We?" Dino gulped, choosing to cover Tsuna's ears, too. The two children decided to look at each other, rather than their older siblings to see what was happening. When they made eye contact, Kyouko stuck her tongue out.

"We," Ryouhei confirmed with a small nod of his head. He looked down at his sister fondly, as if remembering something rather than being in the present. "We came here when Kyouko was one. That's when Lussuria adopted us."

"I... had no idea," Dino answered softly, biting his lip form guilt. "I didn't mean to pry or bring up a sensitive topic." It had always been obvious that Lussuria wasn't their real parent, but he hadn't been told any extra information than what he could find out by himself. Nana had never brought up the topic, and Oregano wasn't someone who he was close enough with to pry. The adults were all friends—especially now that Lal and Colonnello were there, too—so if he happened to ask one, it would spread around for sure. Dino had been polite and kept to himself, yet he had been able to hurt his friend by bringing up such a thing.

Kyouko had pulled her brother's hands off of her ears, meaning she had heard the last bit of Dino's sentence. "Sensitive topic?" she asked, curiously. "What's going on? I can _smell _a secret!"

"Nothing—" Dino yelped in surprise when Tsuna decided to lick his hand, somehow shuffling them off of his ears and towards his mouth. "You devious little thing!"

"Secrets are bad!" Tsuna scolded him, clambering off of his brother's lap. He put his hands on his hips, imitating the stance their mother took whenever the mood in the room was serious. His expression ruined it, though, as he had jutted his lower lip out. "You know what happens to liars."

"We were just talking about a girl who's in Ryouhei's class!" Dino defended himself with the lie, dropping a obvious hint to the other male within his words. If the grey-haired male had finally acquired a brain, he would go along with it and start to talk about a random girl, probably a made up one, as he didn't remember anyone within it.

"We were?" He blinked. "We _were_! That girl hit me when I sat in her seat by accident. At least I think it was a girl."

"What do you mean you think?" Dino chortled, unsure whether to dub him as a complete idiot. There were rare times when he showed that he had some intelligence, albeit only a small amount. "I think some of them don't have boobs, but still."

"Bianchi has boobs!" Kyouko cut in, raising her hand in the air as if answering a question that was asked. "She told me!"

"Maybe... Bianchi should stay away from you," Ryouhei murmured, patting his sister's head in sympathy. "She's trying to break us apart, Kyouko!"

"Or maybe Bianchi likes you," Dino interrupted with a playful smile. It was a fun pastime for him to confuse the other male, just to see his exaggerated reactions. If anything about love or friendship was mentioned he'd be in over head and it would look as though his brain had exploded from trying to process all of the information. "Oh, look at you, man. Got all the girls running after you already."

"_No_!" He covered his own ears that time. "I don't want to hear it!" Ryouhei bellowed, averting his eyes, too, so he didn't have to get any ideas.

"Imagine what it'll be like on Valentine's for you," Dino sang, watching as the other's face soon turned to horror stricken. "Chocolates, everywhere the eye can see."

Ryouhei started to look even more horrified. Chocolate was his worst nightmare—a small detail soon found out after he'd moved into his apartment. When they celebrated the nearest birthday, he'd mistakenly given the grey-haired male a slice of chocolate cake and then had to be there for the trip to the hospital. "I'll have nightmares." He gulped. "Don't mention that _awful _food."

"Okay, okay," Dino said, still laughing as he held his hands up in defeat. He shook his head, watching as Kyouko was looking up at her brother oddly. "I think I've corrupted your sister. I was just saying that there might be a girl that likes you, surprisingly."

"My one love is sports!" he proclaimed heatedly, though most of the heat was within the blush across his cheeks. "That's all I need to like me."

Kyouko clambered onto her brother's lap, raising her hands into the air as she proclaimed, "I like you!"

"Mama wouldn't approve of our love, Kyouko!"

"Why?" she asked, her eyes large. "Mama said we must tell the ones we love that we like them."

Her eyes were enough to convince him, let alone the words. "I love you, Kyouko!" Ryouhei exclaimed loudly, reaching down to wrap his arms around her. Dino rolled his eyes at their display of affection, not surprised when Kyouko practically shouted the same sentence back, and laughed loudly from being squeezed.

"Don't worry." Dino winked at his little brother. "I'm not going to try and marry you. I'll leave you and Kyouko alone." He'd heard that they'd promised—with their pinkies, of course—that they would get married when they were old enough, not thinking of the real meaning behind it. They both just smiled like idiots most of the time, most likely from Ryouhei's influence. It had been the grey-haired male that finally told Dino about it whilst he was drinking, so as a thank you he had ended up with water all over his shirt whilst Dino ran away as fast as he could. "Kyouko's going to get stolen, though."

As Tsuna chose to charge in head first and attempt to catch the two of them off guard, there were three quick knocks on the door. Although they were quiet, Dino could make them out since he was the closest to it. He stumbled to the door from his legs being numb, and swiftly opened it before using his habit of looking down first.

It was a good thing he did, though, as Kyouya had his hand raised as if he was going to knock against the wood again. His fist dropped down to his side as he opened his mouth, and Dino finally thought that he was going to be greeted first. When the smaller male closed is mouth again, he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Kyouya," Dino said first, holding onto the door whilst trying not to move around. His legs had started prickling, so even if he wanted to crouch to get on Kyouya's eye level, he was determined not to move until the sensation was completely gone for good. "Come in, come in."

He shook his head.

Dino blinked. "Then, what's up?"

"You don't have to walk me home," Kyouya said softly, a frown across his lips.

"It's my choice," Dino countered, raising an eyebrow at his behaviour. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't want you to."

"I want to." Dino stuck his tongue out childishly. "Plus, your mother's expecting me to from now on."

The next moment, Dino was cringing deeply and clutching his leg from it having been kicked by Kyouya's foot. It was the first violent move he'd done, at least from what Dino had seen, but that wasn't what had surprised him the most. Kyouya's expression when he'd kicked him was upset, and before he could walk after him to see what was wrong, he could hear his door slam shut.

"At least the bruise will remind me it happened," he murmured.

-x-

"You're going to get cold like that." Gently placing a blanket upon her son's shoulders, and making sure she was covering as much skin as possible, Oregano couldn't help a small smile spreading across a lips. He was already seven—that meant seven years it had been before she had ventured out, alone, in an attempt to be mature. To prove to herself, and to her past career, that she would be able to make it by herself. "You took your time to come here this year."

All her hard work was shown in front of her; her son, the furniture and all the decorations. There were no fans attempting to harass her, there were only late nights if _she _was the one who chose to do them, and there were no microphones, most of all. Although she missed the soft sound of piano keys being pressed gently, along with an almost violent applause that followed, all the sounds were in a past life of hers. She'd changed, she was sure.

"It was too cold outside of my duvet," Kyouya murmured, rubbing his hands against his eyes. "I didn't know you took my blanket."

"I just transported it." She grinned, amused from the narrowing of his eyes. Although the smile was half forced, Oregano couldn't decide whether the reason behind her faltering was good or bad. With every year that was passing, Kyouya was starting to look more and more like her father. If it wasn't for the glasses that were normally perched upon her nose as a reminder, that fact alone would've been enough to trigger a few unwanted memories. Did that mean someone else was starting to look like her, or him, too? "Which present do you want to open first?"

His eyes locked onto the first of the three presents, the one which happened to be shaped like a box. Oregano observed as he opened it just the way he always had done, too slow for a child yet there was enough excitement in his eyes to show that he was pushing himself to go slowly. When the wrapping was torn apart, he smiled as he saw the small robot toy. As he opened the other two presents—one which was a bird soft toy, whilst the other was a scarf—his reactions were exactly the same.

"Thank you."

Did she still have the right to call herself a mother if it was painfully obvious that she wasn't cut out for it? Again, there was evidence in front of her that it was true. Oregano bit down onto her lip, becoming absorbed in her thoughts as Kyouya played absent mindedly with his presents.

Seven months ago, when she had just become _slightly _confident in her ability to provide for her son and maintain a job without having to appeal to many individuals, what she had been expected for so many years had finally happened. Oregano could clearly remember that she'd almost crushed her glasses from clutching onto them when the email came.

It was just like him, she thought, not to contact her directly. Although it was better than having to hear his voice, the characters that were typed out were enough to make her sigh. She'd agreed to meet him—but not before reminding herself she wasn't naïve, like she had been before—and tentatively taken her son's hand and led him to the car. After an hours drive, she was sure to take the glasses off and hide them and made sure she was acceptable.

It hadn't work, she acknowledged with a sarcastic smile. As always, he was able to see right through her; to see the frustration within her violet irides, the strain within the set of her lips.

To calm herself down, Oregano chose to do what she had become accustomed to. Running her fingers through her son's thick hair, she softly sang, "_Hey, do you remember_?" Although the vibrations from her throat were reminders of her past life, they were welcome. She'd moved on, she assured herself. "_That time when you said to me, "You're lovely,"_." Her voice trembled towards the end, yet she was able to pull it together by placing a hand upon her heart. She counted the beats within her head. "_I smiled in response._"

Kyouya hummed softly along with her, proving that she had sang it enough over time for him to know. He most likely knew the words, too, but didn't like to sing. She didn't want him to follow in her footsteps—Oregano had never mentioned music to her son, but he was sure to have known that she sang whenever she could.

"_You're not alone,_" she sang, specifically for him, "_I've always believed in that._" Her voice became soft, as if it were a lullaby played from a recorder. In her mind, though, there was the sound of a music box playing, encouraging her voice to be stronger. "_Because I'm always, always, by your side._"

Oregano was sure that if he could see her now, he would presume that she hadn't changed.

Stopping her from thinking further, Kyouya announced, "You still haven't played the original song."

She smiled warmly, standing up and brushing any dirt that was on her clothes off. "I'll buy it for you someday," she lied, knowing that there were no copies. After all, it was made for his first birthday. "Aren't your friends coming over?"

"I didn't tell them," he answered, absorbed in squashing his soft toy, watching as it expanded again. "They'd just be noisy."

"I see," Oregano pretended to humour him, smiling softly. Kyouya and his attitude were strikingly similar—even if they had only been together for a weekend, one _whole_ weekend—so much so, that Oregano never had the chance to forget. That small detail made it easier for pleasing her son, though, as she knew how to work around the frustrating comments that came from his mouths. "I forgot something, I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Readjusting her glasses, Oregano composed her self like she had done many years ago. It was just a matter of absorbing herself within a role, directing her cleverly constructed feelings into her voice. Knocking on the door, she hoped that the one she wanted would answer.

Just as planned, the door swung open and she was able to see a yellow mop of hair. "Dino, could you talk to him?" she asked, making it so her voice sounded out of breath from either frustration or running. Furrowing her eyebrows, she added, "Kyouya won't calm down."

As expected, he didn't ask questions before walking at a fast pace to their apartment. He didn't even look back to close his door, Oregano noticed with a smile.

"Hey, Alaude," she said softly, closing the door, "have I changed as much as you?"

**AN: **I was panicking about writing the last section but surprisingly it was the easier yet. I haven't delved too far into Kyouya's family background yet but here's what I was trying to make obvious. _(**#1: **Oregano used to be a singer. **#2: **She's not with Kyouya's father any more. **#3: **Kyouya met his father for the first time in the last chapter. )_ I wasn't trying to make her into a bad mother in the last chapter! That was unintentional! Oh, and Fran's cool. I like him getting hit.

I almost forgot to mention! The song that Oregano was singing was written by my lovely sister, eternalilith! It's originally in Japanese, so that's the English translation. Thank you so much for writing that for me!

_"I don't need you turning up here. Go back to wherever you were before."  
>"Uncle Colon, we need outfits for baseball! Would you make us some, please?"<br>_


	4. Cryptic White Camellias

**ilovesmilingfools: **I liked writing that scene! Yep, Alaude's his father and no, he didn't know that Oregano was pregnant. ;A; cba to write another scene with them so I'll answer any questions. He's not a bad father, just uninformed. **Eyes17k: **You'd be into incest if Dino was your brother! **blank: **Aww thank you! **Imitation Angel: **Hello, daughter. idk I've never called it anything else so as a kid I just tried to pronounce it all the time. xD **eternalilith: **Smile away, Nee-sama! I hope I made you proud for the chapter~**ayameD18: **I'm glad you like Oregano! Many readers don't seme to, probably because I'm not portraying her the way I want to. Oho, you'll never know the reason for Kyouya crying. **nightingale mistress: **I don't like Fran! Keep him away from me! Oh, was it not obvious? Fran and Mukuro are siblings. **asdfghjkl: **Dino will never be your brother! ;A; He already has his hands full. It's not! Just a small splash of violence that's very rare. **The Red Undertaker: **Aww I wasn't trying to make Oregano and Alaude bad parents! They're not together, Oregano's trying hard by herself and Alaude had no idea Kyouya existed until he used his job to find out. **Eloda: **Hahaha thank you! **PuroC****ieloFiamme: **I like that pairing! Yes, there will be smut in later chapters. (around chapter eleven as main smut, but there may be splashes soon) **blank: **thank you! **Queen: **You can't marry anything! ;A; **nekoneko: **Sure, sure, I'll make Kyouya talk more. **heavensentskysky: **Aww thanks! :D Updated!

_家庭教師ヒットマン _REBORN! © _天野明 _

**four: cryptic white camellias.  
><strong>_I disregarded what people said.**  
><strong>_

Dino ran down the street, his heart beating loudly within his chest as he turned a corner. He was careless, he knew that, but that didn't help the feeling of guilt within his stomach. Skidding to a stop just in front of the school, he looked around to see whether they were there or not. Had they left without him from being fed up of waiting? God, it really didn't take him long to mess up, did it?

"Tsuna?" Dino called, cupping his mouth in an attempt to amplify his voice. "Kyouya?"

"Dino!" a voice came from beside him, causing him to double take. Looking to his left, Dino saw that there was a group of sorts settled down beside the school gates, each of them sat down next to each other. Kyouko, who still looked ever so happy in her school uniform, was the one that had called her his name. Tsuna was sat beside her, resting his head against her shoulder and dozing off slightly, whilst Kyouya had distanced himself a few feet away, standing up with his arms crossed. "Did you forget about us?"

"Oh, you cheeky little girl." He jokingly narrowed his eyes. "I should mess up your hair so you'll _never _be able to make it pretty again." Once Dino had rubbed his sweaty palms onto the material of his trousers, and calmed down and guilty feelings he had, he let his eyes travel over the each of them. "I'm sorry, I got caught up in class. Ryouhei decided to get me in trouble."

"Brother made you late?" Kyouko asked with wide eyes. "That's mean! He's mean!"

"Well, more like he decided to get payback," he explained jokingly, extending a hand to Tsuna who took it with a sleepy expression. Lifting his little brother into the air was surprisingly easy; Tsuna even managed to stumble over his own feet before Kyouko caught him. "I tripped him over during basketball so he wanted revenge."

"On purpose?" Kyouya asked, brushing off his clothes. He was still the same Kyouya that Dino had met in the beginning—still small for his age, though he'd added more than a few centimetres to it, and rarely violent whilst choosing to be silent most of the time.

"Did I trip him on purpose?" Dino hummed, tapping his chin with a finger lightly. "I'll leave that up to you to decide."

"You're so mean!" Kyouko shouted, covering her hands with her ears and walking out of the entrance. Tsuna soon stumbled after and Dino simply shrugged when Kyouya blinked at him. It was a tradition as soon as the other two had entered elementary school for them all to walk home togeher. Whether Ryouhei was there, too, depended on whether there was a make-up test he had to take or if a club needed him. He'd immersed himself within sports when he'd entered the second year just to prove he could meet Yamamoto, and the other male had done the same, too.

"Those two don't annoy you, do they?" Dino asked, watching as his little brother and Kyouko held hands in front of him.

"They come into my class." Kyouya kept his arms by his side, walking in a straight line without moving them at all. He didn't falter even when he turned to look at Dino, his expression still surprisingly innocent. "They're liked."

"You don't sound too pleased about that." Dino raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to do with his hands. He chose to hold onto a strap of his bag in the end, still inspecting Kyouya's expression. It was still blank, the most emotion showing through the flickers within his eyes. "Are they getting in the way of you and your friends?"

Kyouya had definitely heard when Kyouko and Tsuna were telling Dino about their days, and yet the black-haired male wouldn't ever talk about his. Apart from one small sentence or another, there were no long and in depth conversations about what was bothering. He averted his eyes most of the time, immersing himself in either a book or just by sitting there, silently.

"Kyouya," Dino called, running his fingers through the black strands at the back of the male's head. "Is everything okay? You can talk to me, you know."

"Fine," he answered softly. Dino let his fingers fall down to the nape of his neck, still rubbing in a soothing manner. "Everything's fine."

Kyouya wouldn't look at his eyes when he said that. As much as the older male wanted to press him, to finally receive answers that were more than a handful of syllables, he bit his tongue and waited. There needed to be more trust behind them before he would pry, at least that's what he thought. Dino chose to glance at Tsuna in front of him again, noticing that they were almost at their apartment complex, and ponder whether it was a good idea to open up first. Although him and Kyouya were together quite a bit—definitely more than Kyouya was willingly with Ryouhei—they never spoke about the past. Was there any point in opening up to someone so young, anyway? It might have been similar to talking to a painting, or maybe just a blank space on the wall.

All he could do was keep his head forward and anticipate the future. Dino didn't have to worry as much as he did back then, nor attempt to manage the house. He wasn't the same stupid kid, and yet he still felt like it when he looked himself in the mirror.

Combing his fingers through Kyouya's hair again, he leaned down to whisper in his ear, "I really am here if you need me."

He could feel it when Kyouya nodded.

They continued to walk in silence. Dino had a smile across his lips through the whole of it, though, mostly from the kid beside him or his brother almost tripping over too many times. By the time they were home, Kyouko seemed as though she'd consumed a mountain worth of sugar. She was jumping on the spot for a few moments before dashing forward and charging towards her door to see her brother.

"Well, it looks like it's just us three now." Dino laughed, not hiding his amusement very well. Kyouko always ran towards her brother whenever she could, so leaving without as much as a wave was no surprise. "Do you want to come round for ice cream, Kyouya?"

"Vanilla," he answered, clearly accepting.

"Come on," Dino ushered Tsuna inside, barely stopping his smirk when he saw that his brother's head was still turned towards the hallway, looking down to Kyouko's apartment. "Mom will be home soon and she definitely won't let you have anything before dinner."

He blinked before running inside of their apartment. "Coming!"

An hour later Kyouya was still their guest; or, rather, he was Tsuna's guest as the younger male was almost climbing all over him. Dino had been busy hiding the evidence of their cold treat—washing up quickly and putting away the dishes and cutlery—before he heard Tsuna giggling and playing around. He raised an eyebrow at first, purposely annoying the hopeful look that Kyouya gave him, and busied himself with homework inside. Gnawing on the end of his pencil whilst the other two watched television together, he was shocked out of his trail of thought as the doorbell rang.

"Quiet," Dino hushed the duo sat on the sofa, just in case it was someone visiting them and being far too nosy. As he opened the door, he wasn't quite sure who he was expecting. The face that he had to look up to see was one of the worst ones; one that brought back unwanted memories. "What are you doing here?" Dino asked, hushed, and stepping outside so the two inside couldn't see who was standing there.

"That's definitely a happy face," the man remarked, raising an eyebrow at Dino's behaviour. "This is the first time I've seen you in a few years, you could show a little more glee."

"I don't need you turning up here," he snapped sourly. His mood had done a completely one-eighty; any of the happiness he had been feeling before had drained away. "Go back to wherever you were before, Dad."

"I'm just here to see my cute son." Iemitsu grinned. "Is there a problem with that?"

It was obvious that he wasn't referring to Dino. He had never been referred to as 'cute' by him before; those kinds of compliments were reserved for the youngest of the siblings. And yet, Iemitsu had never gone out of his way to visit Tsuna—he hadn't ever since Dino had been living with his mother. Ever since Tsuna had been born, they'd lived separately.

"Don't." Dino frowned. "He's got a friend with him now, so don't bother him."

"Someone's grown up," he muttered, realising how much his son had grown in the time they had been apart.

"Where's your newest girlfriend?"

As madly in love as his parents had seemed at first, the fights soon followed after. They couldn't play happy families whilst Dino was growing up, and it was more than obvious when he peered around the kitchen corner to see them arguing more than a handful of times. When they separated—and divorced, finally—Iemitsu's newest _lover _would mosey on round to their house, introduce herself to Dino as his new mother and then intrude on their home for a few weeks, and then the cycle repeated with a new woman. He was a man who saw every woman as an object, someone to possess, Dino finally concluded as he believed he was old enough to ponder it.

He'd never been brave enough to bring up the topic with his mom; talking of his father around her was considered taboo.

"She had kids herself, so it didn't work out." Iemitsu grimaced.

"Your own live miles away, would it be so hard to replace us?" There was a bitter taste in his mouth from finally saying the words that had been waiting to escape him for years. Dino averted his eyes, gulping nervously. He'd imagined that scenario in his head various times, usually when he was alone. "I'm happy without you. I can relax."

"Watch your tone, Dino," Iemitsu muttered, frowning. "You're forgetting who raised you."

"What a great job you did with that," he snapped.

Dino barely saw the clenched fist coming his way before it was too late. The developing bruise along his cheek certainly backed up the comment he'd made, and as the moisture welled up in his eyes, he was more than glad that he'd pulled the door shut when his dad wasn't looking.

-x-

"Your bruise isn't going down, man," Ryouhei remarked, prodding the darkened flesh on Dino's cheek in curiosity, "how did you say you got this again?"

"I tripped and hit the damn door handle," he grunted in return, the lie slipping through his lips easily. He had had it easy in his old school as soon as he'd learned how to lie correctly. The bruises only came when he spoke back, rudely, so they weren't there all of the time. "They're hard, you know."

Ryouhei patted the blonde's back in sympathy before scurrying away to get to his class.

Slumping down within his seat soon after, Dino groaned when he felt a ruler tapping him on the shoulder. "No." He moaned, attempting to swat it away without looking. "Leave me be."

"No, no," Mukuro announced behind him, continuing to slap the other male's back. "I need to talk to you, damn it. Now is _not _the time to be grumpy."

"I always have bruises from you!"

Even though he wasn't looking at him, Dino could tell that Mukuro was smirking. "And not only from me, apparently."

"Oh, shut up." Dino scoffed, pressing his head further into his arms.

The two of them had started to talk after they'd bumped into each other that day Dino had gone to pickup Kyouya for the first time—surprisingly, Mukuro was the one who approached him first, mistaking Kyouya to be his younger brother and asking about him. It turned out that Fran, Mukuro's brother and his youngest siblings, had been placed in Kyouya's class and had quickly become his rival. The amount of times that Mukuro had complained about their antics Dino couldn't count on one hand; and somehow, through the complaints and general violence that happened between them, they had became friends of some sort.

Mukuro steered clear of Dino's other friends, though, choosing to avert his eyes and walk off whenever Ryouhei or even Yamamoto came walking his way. Maybe he was just uncomfortable, or didn't want to be associated with the blonde in public.

When his ear was flicked with a finger instead of prodded with the cold metal ruler, Dino grimaced and shot up in his seat. "What?" he asked, cupping his earlobe in an attempt to stop the tingling.

"I want to challenge you," Mukuro announced, narrowing his eyes.

Dino blinked. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"What's there not to understand?" Mukuro smirked, his trademark smile seeming too odd to have been innocent. "Our brothers are always challenging each other, so why don't we do so as well?"

"Kyouya's not my brother," he murmured for the umpteenth time, knowing full well that Mukuro wasn't listening. They had only bumped into each other at the elementary school when it was the year before; meaning, when Tsuna wasn't there and therefore Dino couldn't help but roll his eyes at the assumptions made. His classmates had soon found out why he wasn't accepting any of their invitations out, and instead of being picky and rude about it, they accepted his reason without a fuss. On the rare days that Mukuro would be seen with him, they would walk together before going their separate ways.

It didn't take a genius to realise that Fran didn't like Kyouya, and Kyouya was simply oblivious to him. It seemed as though he had no idea that he existed outside of school, and that was all there was to it. He never murmured angrily about him, nor said about what had happened in class. Instead Dino had to subtly pry the information from the angry blue-haired male behind him.

"Step brothers aren't shameful, you know." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, yes, I want to challenge you."

"If you even _dare _to say boxing so we can punch each other, I will kill you." Dino grit his teeth jokingly. He'd heard enough puns about the bruise on his cheek within the past week, and yet there were none around where he lived. It seemed from the way the other mothers looked at him that they knew the situation; at least, as much as he had willingly told his mother before the subject became taboo again. "No really, I will hang your corpse from a flag pole."

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Mukuro raised an eyebrow in good humour, not offended at all by the death threat. They had soon became the norm between them, after all.

Dino raised his hand up in rejection, attempting to cover Mukuro's face within his vision for it. He even went to the extent of winking permanently, just so he could cover the smirk. "Sorry, my bed is already filled with just me."

As Dino's eyes darted to the front to see whether the teacher had entered yet, he couldn't help but smirk when he had finally concocted a plan within his head.

"Hey, Mukuro," he called, ushering the male forward so he could dramatically whisper into his ear. The coast was clear, but he still didn't want the rest of the class to know. "Why don't we have teams for that challenge? I'll bring Kyouya along, and Ryouhei, along with two others. Is that fine with you?"

His plan was perfect. No matter what they played, he could drag Tsuna and Kyouko along and prove whom his real family members were, and it was also a chance for Mukuro to actually interact with someone else.

"Fine." He smiled sarcastically. "I'll bring Fran and my sister. That's fine, isn't it?"

A new friend for Kyouko, possibly. "Saturday, noon, my place."

"I'm choosing the game," Mukuro cut in before Dino could add any more details.

"That's fine." Dino grinned widely. "If I pass over a player to you, we'll have four on each side."

"You're on, Dino."

-x-

Surprisingly everyone was okay with the idea. Okay might have been an understand, since they had all been running around whilst trying to practice as soon as Mukuro had said that he wanted to have a game of baseball. Kyouko had looked at Dino with wide and glassy eyes when he'd said that, immediately running away to tackle her brother and ask him to teach her. Without a doubt, he needed to keep them two siblings on his team, Dino figured. Tsuna was fine with the idea at first; until he tried to catch a ball and it hit him squarely in the jaw, forehead, and then nose. He had about as much talent as his brother did in catching.

The only one who was against the idea was Kyouya. He was sat down on Dino's bed, arms crossed as he refused to look at the blonde. As soon as he heard who their opponents were, his mood had visibly changed and he'd stalked away to sit on the bed in peace.

"It's just for fun," Dino exclaimed, softly closing the door behind them. He climbed onto the bed, too, sitting crossed legged in front of the smaller male. "Come on, Kyouya. When do we ever get to play against others?"

He frowned. "I hate Fran."

Dino blinked, surprised. As much as the younger male's actions showed his dislike to anything, he'd never outright said his hatred for anything before. "You know, hate is a really strong word. Why don't we say you dislike him?"

"I hate Fran," he repeated.

"You dislike Fran," Dino corrected him, hopefully.

Kyouya turned his head to stare blankly. "I _hate_ Fran," he repeated, clearly emphasising his dislike.

"All right, you hate Fran!" Dino finally cracked and announced loudly, running his fingers through his hair. "Then why don't you take this chance to hit him with a damn ball?"

His tongue had slipped before he realised it. He looked too see Kyouya's reaction—practically dreading it as he knew he was going to be scolded if anyone had overheard his spontaneous advice—and was taken aback when he saw the smile across his lips.

"Am I on your team?" Kyouya asked softly.

"Damn right you are," Dino answered happily, his hand already reaching forward to mess up the black strands of hair in front of him. He grinned when Kyouya pushed his hand away and jumped off of the bed, walking out into the living room as if nothing had happened at all. A few minutes later when Dino had finally got his attention back to where it should be, he ventured outside, too. "Where is everyone?" he asked when he saw that it was just Ryouhei and Kyouya sat down on the sofa.

Ryouhei pointed up to the ceiling, not at all concerned as the two youngest were missing and most likely terrorising the tenants.

"You didn't even follow them?" Dino groaned, ready to take the blame completely. "At least come with me to get them. I don't want Lal to throw anything at me again."

Ryouhei shook his head, turning away and busying himself with fiddling with his clothes instead. Dino made sure to elbow his head lightly on his way past, leaving the door slightly open so it would be easy to get back inside once he'd retrieved the two duo from upstairs. They were still attached to Lal and Colonnello—who were still happily living there and surprisingly together—and used whatever excuse they could to go upstairs and visit them. Lal complained sometimes; mostly through actions rather than words, and Colonnello always just grinned and invited them inside.

Knocking on the door hesitantly, Dino gnawed on his lower lip. Would he get a pillow thrown at him this time or was it going to be something else?

Surprisingly the one who opened the door was Colonnello without his girlfriend in sight. "I was wondering when you'd turn up." He laughed.

"I was busy trying to get another player, so I didn't realise they'd come up here." Dino sighed, running his hand through his hair and peering into the apartment to see where the two were. They were standing on either side of the older male's legs, glancing up at him quizzically. "They haven't annoyed you, have they?"

"Of course not." Colonnello laughed, taking a step back so the two kids would be in front of him. "Lal's not here, though. She's at work today."

He sighed in relief from the new information. "I'm not going to get hit, then."

"Not this time." The older male grinned, letting his hand fall onto Tsuna's messy locks. "Maybe when she finds out that these two still think weirdly of me."

"Oh no." He groaned. "What have they done now?"

"Uncle Colon!" Kyouko exclaimed, gently pulling his jeans. "You said you could make us outfits whenever we need them!"

"I never said that!" Colonnello retorted, still smiling. "Lal's the one who said that."

"We need outfits for baseball, Uncle Colon," Tsuna pointed out, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Can you help us?"

Kyouko had to make herself known again. "Would you make us some, please?"

"You two should know already that I don't dress up or make costumes. Really, I don't. It was just a joke."

"See, Colonnello's too busy to make you outfits for today," Dino pointed out, rolling his eyes at their surprised faces. "We've got to go in a few minutes, anyway. He's not a superhero."

"Hey, I might be."

Dino happily stuck his tongue out before grasping Kyouko and Tsuna's hands. "Liar."

Colonnello shouted as they were leaving, "Just wear matching colours or take your tops off!"

"You're a terrible influence!" Dino replied just as loud before running down the stairs with the duo behind him. They didn't feel guilty at all about butting into Colonnello's personal time—and most likely waking him up in the process—and had practically forgotten it by the time they'd tackled Kyouya and then dragged him outside so they could wait for Mukuro to turn up. "So," he finally drawled as they were sat down on the ground, some leaning against a tall tree. Ryouhei was becoming impatient and Dino certainly wished that he hadn't let his phone's battery die by the time they were all together. "Who's excited?"

"It's too hot!" Kyouko complained, inching further under the shadow that the tree was creating. "Why couldn't we do something inside?"

"We'd have too many people to try and fit inside one of our apartments," he explained with a laugh. Tsuna chose to push his bangs up repeatedly, as if waiting for them to stick up and not touch his forehead again. Kyouya was mostly trying to hide in the shadows, keeping to himself.

"This is great weather!" Ryouhei exclaimed, spreading his arms out as if he was trying to fly. Dino wouldn't have been surprised if he had attempted to flap his arms, too, sacrificing the tiny bit of respect that anyone had for him. Thankfully, though, he didn't. "If that friend of yours doesn't show up soon, I'm tackling him in school."

"And why would you be trying to tackle me?"

The three new arrivals had crept up behind them all, making it so they couldn't have been heard whilst they were approaching. Dino blinked as he took in the sight of his younger sister; certainly, she seemed younger than Fran who was on one side with his arms crossed. The girl had short purple hair, a dress with lace on the ends on and had bright white shoes, ones that had obviously been shined. She was hiding behind her older brother's legs, not making herself known very well.

Ryouhei was the first to respond and, of course, it was with whatever had first popped into his head. "You took so long!"

"Well, blame that idiot, then." Mukuro shook his head towards Dino. "His directions weren't clear at all."

"Oh, shut up." He pouted. "You're just bad at understanding. You didn't even understand the map I made you."

"Your map was worse than the ones on cereal boxes," Mukuro retorted, slumping down onto the ground with a groan. "This place is ages away from our house."

"A girl, a girl!" Kyouko cried, running forward and almost throwing Mukuro's sister to the floor. She grabbed onto her hands, eyes wide, with a smile spread across her lips. "Hi, _hi_! It's nice to meet you, I'm Kyouko!"

The answer she received was soft and short, but it was enough to please her. "Nagi."

"Nagi!" Kyouko repeated with a grin, holding hands with the new girl immediately. "I'll protect from these bad boys, don't worry."

Tsuna turned to his brother, a worried expression already crossing his face. "I'm a bad boy?" Not only had he been ditched within a matter of seconds, it seemed his heart couldn't take it very well.

"Kyouko didn't mean it like that." Dino laughed, not able to contain the small sound, and gently caressed the younger male's hair. He could see that his eyes were wide enough to have started to collect more moisture, the liquid almost brimming over as his mind was surely racing. "She was referring to her brother, actually." With a pointed look, Dino glanced over to see Ryouhei shaking Mukuro by his shoulders; or, rather, attempting to as the blue-haired male was lying down on the ground.

"Tsu-_chan_'s not bad, though," Kyouko finally added, glancing over to Tsuna and grinning, "he's a girl in disguise."

Dino laughed loudly that time, hitting his brother's back softly in support. "Good luck, little man," he murmured softly in good humour before walking off to break off the shouting match that was happening.

"You didn't even bring any equipment?" Ryouhei questioned in a huff.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mukuro snapped, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't expecting to walk outside for more than half a damn hour in this heat!"

"This heat is nothing! You should have brought a bag with you!"

"Can't you just calm down?" Dino loomed over them—Ryouhei had joined the other on the floor somewhere in between Tsuna's pity session and when Dino had turned his head to check that everything else was okay. It seemed that he was the only one who cared about what was happening, really; the rest were just content to mess around in the heat. Kyouko was busy making Nagi even more scared than she already, Fran was trying to annoy Kyouya but the latter was simply annoying him, whilst the two in front of him only blinked in innocence. "You're both male, deal with it."

"How observant of you." Mukuro rolled his eyes, pushing himself up and wiping the dirt off of his clothes. "So we can't play baseball, therefore it's a draw, isn't it?"

"We didn't even decide on a prize in the beginning," Dino pointed out, letting out a small laugh. Ryouhei looked between the two of them, finally being clued in on the purpose of them playing. He hadn't been told any more details than there was going to be a baseball game since, after all, that was all that he needed to know before he had agreed. "This seems pretty pointless, then."

"If you're men you won't be satisfied with just a draw," Ryouhei pointed out matter of factly, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's nice weather, I want to play something."

Dino grimaced as he took another peek up at the blaring sun. "We have nothing to play."

"I don't care, just pick a random game!"

Mukruo turned his nose up to that idea. "I'm not playing something pathetic."

"Why don't we ask them what they want to play?" Dino answered, looking over his shoulder to indicate that the was referring to their younger siblings. Instead of agreeing with him, Dino took the silence as a definite rejection. "What's wrong with that idea?"

"Fran would choose something violent and Nagi would just like to have a drawing contest."

"Kyouko would choose something ridiculously easy."

They'd both answered at the same time, causing Dino to laugh slightly. "Okay," he agreed, chuckling still, "their choices would be pretty weird. We'd be trying to play hide and seek if it was Tsuna."

"You'd suck at that, Dino." Ryouhei burst out laughing at Mukuro's comment, patting the other male on the back in appreciation. "Seriously, though, you'd be terrible."

"Wouldn't he?"

Dino looked taken aback, blinking in surprise as Ryouhei was stretching his arms over his head. "What, why?" he questioned, eyes darting between the two of them. There was surely a conspiracy going on. "I think I'd be better than you two. You stand out too much."

"We stand, you don't." Mukuro smirked, irides twinkling with mischief. "You'd trip over on something and give yourself away. This is why you're never picked for any teams, man."

Ryouhei burst into another round of laughter, that time punching Dino's shoulder lightly in amusement. "I knew you'd be crap in gym."

Dino turned his head away from them, pouting. "I hate you both."

"Loser."

"I'd win," Dino tried to say confidently, but it came out quietly. "I would, definitely, as you two would be absolutely rubbish at it. You'll see, one day."

"One day?" Mukuro raised an eyebrow, the smirk slowly returning to his lips. His eyes briefly darted over to Ryouhei, looking for some sort of confirmation, and when he found out the smirk was fully across his lips. "Why not today, then?"

He couldn't hold back his sigh. "You want to play now?"

"Is there a problem?" Ryouhei asked, trying to hold back a chortle. "You can prove us wrong, man. If you can, that is."

Dino stuck his tongue out without much thought. "Of course I can."

"Let's do this, then," Mukuro announced, rubbing his hands together as he craned his neck to see around Dino. "Hey, munchkins," he called loudly, "come here, we're playing."

With bewildered expressions they all slowly walked towards them and Dino couldn't hold back a laugh at their behaviour. Kyouko was dragging Nagi forward by the hand with Tsuna trailing behind them whilst frowning with wide eyes. Kyouya was scowling as he walked forward, Fran taking large strides in front of him.

"All of you could look at bit more excited, you know," he commented in amusement.

"This is my excited face," Fran proclaimed, poking his cheek lightly as there wasn't even a smile across his face. "What are we playing?"

"Just simple hide and seek." Mukuro shrugged. "We want to see how bad Dino sucks at it, that's the only reason."

"Oh, shut up." Dino glared jokingly. "Who wants to find everyone, then?"

Only a single hand was raised slowly. "I'll do it," Kyouya said as Fran furrowed his eyebrows at him, "I'll find everyone." Even Dino raised an eyebrow at him, unsure at what motive he had behind accepting the role. He had never been the type to participate willingly in games; whenever they were playing board games, he'd have to be dragged into it and then someone had to roll the dice for him, to boot. The one time they'd suggested that he did it himself, they went off the table and halfway across the room.

"All right, Dino's brother will do it then," Mukuro confirmed.

The blonde reacted immediately. "He's not my brother!"

"I'm the brother!" Tsuna excitedly put his hand in the air, waving it around a bit.

"Oh." Mukuro blinked as innocently as possible. "I thought the brown-haired girl was your sister. My bad, kid. All right, the random child that Dino walks home shall do it."

"He's a family friend!" Dino defended himself, "and that girl is Ryouhei's sister!"

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes before waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "Let's get going. Give us twenty seconds, kid."

Kyouya nodded slowly, closing his eyes as he sat down with his back against a tree. Dino cast one more look over his shoulder before walking off, trying to find a good place to hide. It took him a few seconds before he chose to simply sit down behind a bin, resting against the apartment building.

He felt that he'd won just from not falling over. When he heard loud footsteps and then saw that Ryouhei was sabotaging him by pushing the bin away and then running into the distance to hide again, he sighed. Pushing himself off the floor and then looking for a new place, Dino couldn't care less about whether he was going to get found or not. He could already accuse the grey-haired male of cheating and not be in last place, after all.

As he was wiping any dirt off of his clothes, a quiet voice asked, "Can we go now?"

Kyouya was standing beside him whilst there was no sign of anyone else. "Have you found everyone else?" Dino questioned, not bothering to ask how he had been found. It was obvious, he was standing up.

"No," he announced, "and I don't plan to. I don't _want _to."

The older male cracked a smile, finally taking a shot at guessing Kyouya's motive. "Was your plan to let everyone hide for hours on end whilst we go off and do our own thing?"

Kyouya changed the topic, a small smile tugging on the corner of his lips as he realised he'd been figured out. "I want ice cream."

"And ice cream you will get." Dino grinned, ruffling the smaller male's hair as they walked around the corner.

**AN: **I probably should have mentioned that each family was only going to have a small look into what they're like. So Kyouya's been done, Dino's been done. Ryouhei and Kyouko has practically been done. There won't be any serious stuff until they're older now, I can assure you. Just light hearted fun and some nudity from little girls. Are there any characters that anyone wants in here soon? I don't want to reveal who's coming in soon, but I'd like to know what readers think is mssing. I know this story seems a bit upside down and all over the place and I really didn't mean for it to be that way at all.

_"Kyouko, seriously, put your top back on. Girls can't just take their tops off!"  
>"You devil, you. You better show that girl a good time."<em>


	5. A Planned Snapdragon

**ilovesmilingfools: **Oh, thank you! Sorry for the delay. **havensentskysky: **Thank you! **The ****Red Undertaker: **Good luck with that plan! I hope it works well. **eternalilith: **I did try and make Dino seem more mature! He was fourteen-fifteen (I can't remember now) in the last chance, so I wanted a change for him. Iemitsu's a bad father no matter what, so what's wrong with a bit of discipline? I'm sure it would happen if he was, uh, real? Yay, it made you feel warm and fuzzy! I hope you enjoy this one too, Yuka-nee! **yume'tokidoki: ***pats your back* Don't cough to death! Haha, I haven't really thought about Ken and the other one. xD **nightingale mistress: **Did I ever tell you how much I love you in general? Lmao you can predict the story! You're now surpassing me with seeing the future! (Yep, Ryouhei stayed for a good few hours and then felt cheated.) Hmm, I always saw Dino and Mukuro being friends and Kyouya just... getting in the way? Mostly because I know a lot of people that ship Mukuro/Dino. (Yes, in that order.) Iemitsu's a bad father in the manga and anime, so he's a bad father here as well! I'll somehow stick Byakuran in there for you! **SkylarkLove: **Squalo's already there! :D **Takoizumegane: **But they're so young! **Blur-Berry: **Almost typed blue-berry. Thank you so much! And I actually helped arrange that contest with my friends and never well... submitted anything. I never do. xD **Anonymous: **Thank you so much! Well, I'll consider that thought you just planted. ;) You're okay with their age difference? **df14-blacksnow: **Welcome back! Thank you. :) **simply anonymous: **Haha thank you! Gokudera will be in this. (He's been mentioned as Bianchi's little brother, just no name.) **Fran-anisca Grave: **Squalo has been mentioned in a previous chapter, and he is there. :D eternalilith actually helped me with a whole back story of Alaude and Oregano's relationship, so, don't worry, they'll definitely appear. **PureCieloFiamme: **Thanks! **LukaNezumi: **First of all, thank you for the long review! In a few of my other stories (ones that have been deleted, probably) I kept the groups as they were, but since I don't really read Kateikyoushi and I haven't watched/read any official stuff since the anime finished, I decided to mix it up. I just go with whatever goes to mind, really. Tsuna and Kyouko might be together, but I don't really know yet. (Kyouko's still got to have her first awkward love.) **satori02: **Sorry! I just got delayed since it was awkward to write. **Eyes17****k: **I love you! **AwesomeGirlisAw****esome: **By any chance are you awesome? Squalo's already there! He's young! **FiyoriTakeshi: **Well, I've been lurking on the Internet. :'D

_家庭教師ヒットマン _REBORN! © _天野明_

**five: a planned snapdragon.**  
><em> I wonder if there's even something like that.<em>

"Come on!" Dino urged, letting the water hit his ankles. "It's the sea, Kyouya!"

They had somehow persuaded their parents to let them have a day off school so they could travel to the beach. It was a few hours away, but in the end, Dino decided that the sweltering heat inside of the car was certainly worth it. Although he had hoped that the lot of them that lived near each other would've been able to go, Lussuria had been adamant that his two children couldn't go. Ryouhei had been suspended enough had therefore had a adequate amount of days off.

So, in the end, it was only Kyouya that had joined them. Oregano had been called away on business early morning, and her colleagues were certainly going to laugh about her summer attire when she turned up.

"Too hot," the black-haired male replied, staying firmly seated underneath the umbrella on the sand. He, apparently, didn't enjoy the feeling of sand on his toes, nor the saltiness of the water. Oregano hadn't warned them about his mood or aversion to the sea.

"You'll be cooler in the water!" Dino replied, laughing softly as he looked to his right to see Tsuna trip over a pebble into the water. From the impact, some of the water splashed Dino in the face and only made him laugh more.

Kyouya, on the other hand, deliberately pushed himself back further on his purple towel.

"Why don't you join them, Kyouya?" Nana asked, settling down beside him. She was kind enough to take the straw hat off of her head and gently place it on his, stifling a chortle as it almost covered his eyes.

He shook his head.

Dino shrugged back at his mother before continuing to play with his brother instead. Tsuna had always liked the sea, even if he wasn't able to visit it often. The last time they had been there together was when their dad had decided that he wanted to take them both out—it was the last time Nana had joined them when they went out. Iemitsu hadn't returned to visit them after that, but he did send a card for Christmas. Just a small card that held no future promises within it at all.

"Did you just splash me?" he asked in disbelief, watching as Tsuna grinned ear to ear before retreating under water, practically scuttling away as he held his breath. He emerged a few metres away, still grinning.

"You can't get me back!"

The older of the two took that as a challenge. "Oh, I'm going to get you _good_."

Tsuna tried to swim away, but since he wasn't experienced the speed wasn't very fast at all. "You can try, giant!"

They continued to play in the shallow end after Tsuna freaked out about maybe standing on a crab, even after Dino assured him that there were none underneath his feet. It was nice for them to both me out together, even though their mother was metres away resting upon a towel. She'd claimed her skin wouldn't have been able to handle the sun that day, but Dino knew that it was so she wouldn't leave Kyouya alone, especially since his mother wasn't there that day.

"Hey!" Dino shrieked before flushing. He realised how high pitched his voice had been, and that didn't lessen his embarrassment from Tsuna splashing him with the water directly into his eyes. He rubbed at them, pouting childishly. "That was a cheap shot."

"I win, I win!" Tsuna sang, splashing within the water more.

"I'll hold you underneath the water again," he jokingly threatened, laughing aloud at the terrified expression upon his brother's face. There was no tension between them any more; or, rather, there was no negative tension. When it was over the last piece of food it was an entirely different matter. "I'm the man of the house, remember," Dino said, puffing his chest up proudly. "I can make you eat soup for a month straight."

"You wouldn't if you loved me." Tsuna stuck his tongue out, running out of the sea and proceeding to get sand all over his feet. The blonde followed after, still grinning, and settled down on the spare towel and grimaced at his feet. The grains were uncomfortable between his toes. "Kyou-_chan_," Tsuna started, leaning into his friend, "you should have swam with us."

Kyouya shook his head. "It's too hot."

"Well why did you agree to come here, then?" Dino asked, narrowing his eyes in mock suspicion. He trailed his index finger over his chin to complete the look. "I think we've got a new case, Tsunayoshi."

"A new case?" his brother repeated excitedly, shooting up from the floor and clapping his hands in excitement. "I'll solve it before you!"

"I said we, Tsuna, _we_." Dino laughed, running a hand through his wet hair to stop it pressing against his forehead. "We're partners, remember? That means we work together."

"You'll be the one eating soup if I win."

"Boys," Nana interrupted, taking Tsuna's hand and pulling him down, "he came for the ice cream, obviously." She continued as if she hadn't said anything, rubbing Tsuna's hair dry with a towel.

He perked up, gripping the towel himself and loudly asking, "Ice cream?"

Dino pretended to be offended instead. He placed a hand over his heart, exaggerating his facial expression as he questioned, "You had ice cream without us?"

"You're only getting some if you're good," Nana teased, passing the towel over to him, "isn't that right, Kyouya?"

The black-haired male nodded his head slowly, and whilst Dino's gaze shifted to him, his eyes inspected the oddly coloured pair of lips. They were only ever so slightly coloured, but it was obvious that there had been a ice pop there only moments ago, rather than ice cream. "You had cherry again, didn't you?" he asked, lips curling into a smirk. Kyouya nodded slowly again, furrowing his eyebrows and most likely wondering how he had been found out.

"But cherry's my favourite!" Tsuna whined, leaning onto his friend again as if he was trying to hurt him. "Kyou-_chan_, you always steal my stuff."

"I didn't see your name on it."

Tsuna continued to whine, although it was for fun more than anything. Amusement was shining within her dark irides as he proclaimed, "I'm going to write my name on everything you own!"

Nana laughed, covering her mouth with one hand whilst she reached behind her and produced another ice pop. The wrapping was still upon the treat, so she handed the wrapper over to her whining son whilst shaking, still. Kyouya did almost the exact same; instead of laughing, he was glancing anywhere but at Dino whilst passing over the sweet.

"Well, thanks." Dino blinked, wondering how he hadn't noticed that Kyouya's arm had been behind his back through almost all that time. "I'm going to hide sweets for you next time," he announced, already wondering which ones he should buy and try to hide away from the rest of them.

-x-

To most of their pleasure the temperature carried on rising for the rest of the mouth. Dino was gradually discarding his clothes before he continued to be told to get dressed by his mother, whilst Tsuna was following in his footsteps. Certainly haven't Ryouhei do the same thing wasn't helping neither. Kyouya was firm on keeping all of his clothes on, though.

"Oh, I can't handle it any more," Dino proclaimed as he was walking with his friend. He stopped to a halt in the middle of the pathway—but only after making sure there was no one behind him—and threw his bag down onto the floor. He slipped off his blazer and tie, pushing the sleeves of his shirt up and barely resisting the urge to take that off, too. Ryouhei had been mocking him the whole way home by flaunting off the fact that he was in a tank top, thanks to him skipping the last lesson to go to one of his clubs. "That's so much better."

"Trying to seduce the ladies?" Ryouhei waggled his eyebrows, his lips curling into a suspicious smile as he eyed his friend. Dino narrowed his eyes in return, jabbing him lightly in the ribs. "You can hit my face, not my body!"

"It's normally the other way round," the blonde pointed out, amused by the odd reaction, "people usually care for their face more."

"I don't play sports with my face!" Ryouhei raised his hand to clutch his cheek. "This," he said, tapping the flesh once, "won't let me win a match."

"It might if your opponents were gay," he joked, laughing aloud at Ryouhei's scared expression.

"I still can't believe I thought that guy was a girl before!" Ryouhei exclaimed, still shocked as he didn't appreciate Dino laughing at his misery. As soon as they'd started their new school, Ryouhei had caused trouble and still couldn't forget about it, especially since there were always reminders in his class. "Do you know what Squalo bloody did today?" he asked, the question rhetorical. "He purposely emptied my bag onto the floor and claimed that he _slipped_. I'm going to punch him soon, I swear."

Dino didn't have any sympathy. He patted his friend mockingly on the back, pulling him close to whisper in his ear, "You deserve everything you get, man."

As soon as Ryouhei tried to shove him, he ran as fast as he could forward. His feet were practically echoing off of the pavement as he ran, trying to get away whilst knowing that it was a losing battle. Ryouhei was in almost all the sports teams at their school, considered to be a blessing from the gods just for excelling in anything physical rather than educational. Whenever they had gym together and Ryouhei somehow ended up as the captain, Dino always told him afterwards that he wouldn't have been offended if Ryouhei didn't pick him, and yet he always picked him first.

"You know what? _I'm _going to get you back," the grey-haired male proclaimed as they finally slowed down, approaching their apartment building. "And I know exactly how."

"Yes, yes," Dino tried to sing before realising he was almost out of breath, "I'd like to see you try."

"You're going to regret that," Ryouhei threatened, "_extremely_."

"Bring it on, old man," he mocked, started to run off a second later. Ryouhei chased after him immediately, catching up in no time and knocking the blonde down to the ground. Grabbing onto his wrists, he held Dino down to the ground with a look of determination in his eyes. "Oh?"

"I'm young, you hear me? _Young_!"

They were both surprised when another body collided with them. "No, you're old!" Tsuna proclaimed, his head appearing from over Ryouhei's shoulder. He was trying to balance on top of him, but fell off a moment after and pouted. "You knocked me off on purpose!"

Ryouhei finally let go of Dino's wrists and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "This old man has a bad back!" he proclaimed, "I can't keep up with you young whipper-snappers."

"Whipper what?" another voice asked. Kyouko was standing behind them, furrowing her eyebrows curiously. "Is it bad that we're young?"

"You're the spawn of the devil, Kyouko," Dino teased, still with his back against the floor. He laughed aloud as she stomped her foot on the ground—she was becoming increasingly dramatic, all because her brother's reactions were amusing whenever she would do something that wasn't considered normal. It was already obvious that he was going to be an overbearing older brother, and she seemed to accept that with open arms. "Keep away, devil child!"

"You're the devil, not me!" she accused, pointing her index finger towards them. Tsuna joined in, though he nodded in agreement instead of voicing it aloud. "You steal all of my things."

Dino barely stifled a snort. "Technically they're my things, Kyouko..."

"But I won them in a battle!"

He gasped, pushing himself up so he could clearly see her. "You cheat!" he accused, copying her movements and pointing his index finger. "You get your brother to do your dirty work for you!"

"I chose to tackle you to the floor myself," Ryouhei defended, not noticing how Kyouko clapped her hands together in happiness from his proclamation, "things were getting too rough."

"You wouldn't even allow me to have a sword!" he responded, childishly jutting his lower lip out.

"Swords are dangerous when guys have them."

"This is favouritism at its worst," Dino accused, standing up and brushing the dirt off of his clothing. Tsuna copied his actions and grinned when they made eye contact—maybe it was because Dino hadn't tripped over in front of him lately, and therefore was slowly working up to a good big brother status. He knew it wouldn't last for long, though. He cursed his luck by thinking so, and as soon as he took a step forward he tripped over a pebble. "That hurt," he mumbled against the floor.

As he heard the three behind him burst out in loud laughter, his face grew hot.

"Fine!" he said, sniffing dramatically. "I don't need friends like you guys anyway. I have Kyouya; he's all I need."

"Kyou-_chan_'s with his dad!" Kyouko pointed out smugly, grinning at him. "You're all alone!"

"I'll cry until he's back, then."

Tsuna replied that time, pouting. "He's not back until Monday..."

Of course he'd been told before that Kyouya was going to be absent for that day of school and also for the weekend—meaning he hadn't had to walk to the elementary school to walk him home for that one day—but it had slipped his mind for a moment. He was just too used to the younger male being beside him, even appearing within his room at the most random of times. Thankfully, though, Kyouya hadn't appeared when it was an awkward time yet. "I'm crying already!"

"Because you're so alone?" Ryouhei asked, raising his eyebrows in amusement. He stood up and jabbed his friend in the shoulder, having his revenge. "We could just ignore you all weekend unless you want to apologise."

"Kyouko has to apologise first." He sniffed.

It was only a few seconds later that Kyouko collided with his body, wrapping her arms around his waist and grinning up at him. "I'm sorry, Dino," she apologised, not sounding sincere at all, "but it's not our fault you're all alone. Kyou-_chan_'s the evil one leaving you all by yourself."

"Hey," Dino scolded, hugging her back for a moment, "don't speak bad about my best friend."

Ryouhei looked taken aback. "What about me?" he asked, grinning when Kyouko was by his side once more. Tsuna had even joined them so it was a line of three and then Dino just in front with his arms crossed over his chest. "I thought we were friends forever."

"Ryou, I don't want to break you and Squalo apart."

Just the mention of the grey-haired male's classmate set him off into a little fit of anger. They all watched, bemused, before patting him sympathetically somewhere—there was always going to be someone that he didn't get along with because of his personality, that was for sure. He was just too full on and didn't know what an indoor voice was.

"I'm definitely getting revenge on you," Ryouhei proclaimed, bumping his shoulder against Dino's. "I could set you up on a date with one of those girls from your class."

"You mean the ones that like to laugh at me?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm sure that'll go well."

"Oh, no," Ryouhei replied, raising an eyebrow smugly, "I mean the ones that stare at you like you're a piece of meat, not laugh at you. They laugh _with _you."

"You're delusional, you know." Dino laughed, waving off the comment with a flick of his wrist. He didn't mind, really, that his class found humour in his clumsiness. He wasn't the class clown on purpose, thankfully. They were a lot nicer than back when he lived with his dad, too. He'd been mocked before since his dad was never there to pick him up, or present for the days were parents could sit in on their lessons. He had to be mature, whilst the rest of the class played around and got others to clean up their mess. "And would you mind what you're saying? Kyouko looks like she's been hit with a shovel."

"But you are a piece of meat, Dino," she said, furrowing her eyebrows, "I could eat you easily."

"Cannibalism is frowned upon in our country." He barely stifled a laugh, causing her expression to turn even more confused. Tsuna was furrowing his eyebrows beside her, too, even bothering to place his hand on his chin in thought. "And in every other country, too. You best not try it."

She stuck her tongue out at being told what to do. "I might cook you first instead."

"Knowing you, you'd burn me."

"No fire!" Ryouehi interrupted before they could get into another debate. Whenever the two siblings happened to come over to their apartment and intrude on breakfast, Kyouko was always there claiming she could cook better than how Dino could, and had even attempted to swat him out of the way before. Sometimes, though, she got the better of him and caused the food to burn. Always, he placed the blame on her and served the ruined food to her brother as punishment.

"I'm never making breakfast for you two ever again," Dino proclaimed, looking off so he didn't have to see their expressions. "Not until Kyouya comes back, at least."

"Don't punish us because you're lonely!" Kyouko whined, kicking him lightly in the shin.

"But you'll still cook for me, right?" Tsuna asked, lightly tugging on his brother's wrist. "I don't want to eat more of Mom's failed food. You make the best pancakes, Dino."

"Flattery won't work this time, Tsuna."

"Will you not make us anything at all?" he asked, trying to make his eyes purposely bigger to receive sympathy. "I really, really, _really _don't think I can handle eating Mom's food until Kyou-_chan_'s back."

"...Maybe only you," he mumbled. A few seconds later Tsuna collided with him and hugged him tightly, and they realised just how hot the temperature was. All of the talking had distracted them for awhile, but as soon as a droplet of sweat trailed down Dino's temple, he sucked in a deep breath. "Okay, it's too hot for this. Really, it is."

"It really is hot," Kyouko agreed and reached down to clutch onto the end of her school shirt. She was able to get the clothing just past her belly button before the rest of them realised.

"Kyouko!" Dino exclaimed, surprised.

"Kyouko, no. I told you before, _no_!" Ryouhei scolded lightly, his hands falling on top of his sister's and pulling her shirt down to its proper position. "Girls can't just take their tops off! You're too young for this, my heart can't take it!"

Dino groaned, covering Tsuna's eyes as she tried to pull the shirt off multiple times more. "She's going to be an exhibitionist."

-x-

Somehow the blonde ended up listening to Ryouhei's comment and considered that some of the class weren't laughing at him, rather with him. He began to talk to individuals that he never thought he would, and when there was a seating change, he purposely sat away from Mukuro so he could talk to others more openly. Within a few months he was close with almost all of the class and when a friend asked to come see his home, he didn't see any reason to refuse.

"Just give me one moment," Dino apologised, taking his phone out of his pocket to call someone quickly. His friend nodded in understanding, allowing him some space for the call. "Hey, Ryou?" he called when the call finally connected.

"What is it? I'm waiting outside for you right now, you know."

"I've got a friend coming over today." He made sure not to mention a name. He knew that Ryouhei would have thrown a fit, especially since Dino had complained about the person who was beside him many a time. "Would you mind walking without me? I hope Kyouya won't mind just for one day."

"If he hits me, I'm going to hit you in the exact same place," Ryouhei replied. "And you better show that girl a good time, you devil." He promptly hung up after that, leaving him dumbfounded.

"Sorry about that," Dino apologised with a small smile, willing the heat from his cheeks to cool down. "My friend's taking my brother home for me today."

"Isn't that a bit awkward for your brother?" M.M. asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. She was originally one of the group that he tended to stay away from. Her along with Hana, a painfully blunt brunette that liked to hurt anyone's ego, were the duo that he had originally despised the most. He ended up sitting next to her in a few lessons, and eventually found a common interest. Although it was just their sense of humours that were the same, it allowed them to talk normally until someone shot them a weird look or they were scolded by the teacher.

"Not really." He shrugged. "He's my next door neighbour."

"Oh, really?" she asked, though there wasn't much interest in her tone. With a pale hand she pushed the light scarlet bangs out of her face, letting them fall with the rest of her chin-length hair. "You never really talk about your family or friends."

"I could say the same back to you," he pointed out, sticking his hands in his pockets as they started to walk together. "I don't know anything about you, really. All we talk about is... well, random things, actually."

"Hey, it's your fault for not manning up and changing the topic," she teased, lightly pressing her shoulder against his. Dino raised an eyebrow against the close contact, but didn't mention it. They never really got that close often, the most they'd done was bump fists when they won a competition of sorts in one class. "It really is misleading when you just go along with some of our talks, though."

He blinked. "Misleading how?"

"I thought you were gay for two years."

The breath he was inhaling got stuck for a moment and he promptly started to choke. Heat rushed to Dino's face as he patted his chest to stop himself from being even more embarrassing, but it didn't work. After a few minutes when he'd settled down again he asked, "_What_?"

"You didn't look at any of us." M.M. shrugged her shoulders, as if her line of thinking was the correct one. "And when we finally started talking you didn't try and look down my shirt at all."

Dino was looking at her as though she'd grown two heads. Heat had rushed to his cheeks again, but that time only partly in embarrassment. Of course he'd taken a few peeks, and he was thankful that he hadn't been caught at all. It was the small detail that most of the class had suspected that he was homosexual that had caught him off guard—were they all really that petty to spread around rumours?

"I was trying to be polite." He cleared his throat, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "It would've been rude to stare blatantly."

She raised an eyebrow, starting to walk slower than before. "Are you trying to say you _have _looked down my shirt?"

A sheepish smile crossed his lips as he replied, "Maybe?"

"You're terrible, Dino."

"Actually, I think you're supposed to compliment me for being sly," he commented cockily, barely missing her fist as she punched him lightly in the arm. He managed to look for a moment before pushing her lightly back, running forward when M.M. was ready to slam her bag down onto him. "Gosh, I never knew you were so violent."

"The classroom restricts my powers, that's all." She shrugged. "This is perfectly normal."

"Please keep a certain distance away from me," he warned, jokingly narrowing his eyes. "I don't want any injuries that aren't self-inflicted."

She snorted before covering her nose and mouth with her hand, embarrassed by the sudden noise. Dino smirked knowingly, about to mock her for the slip up, before he managed to stumble forward and almost land flat on his face. Heat immediately coated his cheeks as he tried to cover up the fall, but M.M. Had already caught on. She was laughing like there was no tomorrow behind him, happily cracking up over him possibly almost breaking his nose.

"That's what you get for trying to seem cool," she joked, still laughing.

"Oh, be quiet," he mumbled, embarrassed.

The atmosphere was lighter when they'd finally gotten past the awkward conversations. They continued to joke around, not mentioning family or friends and happily walked into Dino's bedroom and settled down on the bed. Rather than sitting beside her, though, Dino fidgeted and sat down on the floor instead, leaning against the curtain hiding the door to the garden.

"I wasn't expecting your room to look like this, to be honest."

"Why is that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Is it too tidy?"

"It's not that." She laughed, pushing the hair out of her face. "I was expecting posters of partially naked women, actually. That's what most guys have."

"Well, you should already know I'm not like most guys." He rolled his eyes, not offended by her expectations. Only the most random of males within his class had posters like that in their rooms, apparently. The discussions during their breaks between lessons sometimes shifted to the strangest of topics, frequently centred around the opposite gender. "do you have pictures of topless men in your room? I doubt it."

"Of course not," M.M. answered, pushing her hair out of her face again. It was a nervous habit, apparently. "I wouldn't let anyone else see the pictures I have."

The corner of his lip twitched in amusement. "Are you hiding them in a diary or something? Or a journal, if you want to call it that." She must have been aware that they were still alone at that point; Tsuna wasn't there to make any noises, and Nana wasn't intruding with the excuse of drinks.

"You'll never know."

"I guess not." He shrugged, not particularly bothered. The atmosphere was becoming awkward again, mostly because of the distance he'd put between them. As much as Dino tried to think of an excuse to sit on the bed beside her, he knew it would have been obvious. So, he gave up and simply settled down beside her on the mattress. "The door was uncomfortable."

"Door?" M.M. blinked. "Dino, you were sat against your wall."

"No, I wasn't," he pointed out, "just pull the curtain back and you'll see into my garden. Well, the garden I share with everyone here."

"You all share a garden?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "I thought most apartment complexes don't have any gardens at all."

He shrugged, not knowing how to answer that. He hadn't lived in any other, or even asked anyone regarding their garden situations. It was a pointless conversation; he didn't mind whether they had gardens or not.

"Do you all have doors or something?"

"Yes." Wasn't it obvious?

"So if you happened to have a relationship with a neighbour, you could sneak into their room?"

He had yet to do that at all—none of the little group he was in had travelled into each rooms yet, at least not the back way. They'd always announced their entrance through the front door, greeting everyone on the way. "If I was a pedophile, yes." He snorted. "Unless I started dating Ryouhei, then there's only children."

"Ryouhei?" M.M. asked, furrowing her brow as she attempted to think of who that was. "You mean that sports freak? He smells damn awful when I pass him in the corridor."

Dino shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to answer that. He didn't want the two of them to hate each other—though, it was almost impossible for Ryouhei to hate anyone—especially if he wanted the girl beside to visit him more often. "Yeah," he started. "That's who I mean. He's the friend that took my brother home today."

"Well, I don't see your brother home. Do they usually take this long?" She'd finally caught on, or had just announced it.

Without a doubt Ryouhei probably had Tsuna, along with Kyouya, round his apartment and was trying to entertain them. He caught on pretty quickly for the most random of things, but Dino knew he'd do the same if he was in his position. "They're probably at a park or something. Ryou's got his sister to take home, too."

"There's so many children around here? I wouldn't be able to stand the noise."

"You don't like children?" he asked, surprised.

"Nope." M.M. smirked. "I guess I won't be having babies, then."

"That's not what I was thinking about!" Dino spluttered, feeling the heat go to his face immediately. As much as he tried not to think of the images that went along with that sentence, a few popped into his mind. Rather than thinking of an excuse, he blurted out the real reason he was asking about children. "It's just that you're probably never going to come round here again."

"Well, that depends on how well you impress me, Dino." M.M. continued to smirk, apparently happy with how flustered Dino had become.

Instead of replying to her properly, he burst out into a hearty spout of laughter. "I'm supposed to impress you? We both know that's not going to happen."

"...Yes." She was looking around the door, even bothering to focus on a space on the wall, and inspecting the hallway, too, instead of looking directly at him. Dino shifted uncomfortably by noticing, unsure of whether he's said the right thing.

"Welcome to my home for the first and last time, M.M.." Dino grinned, trying to lift the atmosphere and waved his hand around the room. "Spectacular, isn't it?"

"Will you just shut up and kiss me, Dino?"

"I'm sorry, _what_?" he spluttered, unsure of whether he had heard her correctly. The coy smile across her lips didn't help him, either, it was just making him even more embarrassed. "I don't think I heard you correctly. Could you repeat yourself, please?"

"You're polite even when you're flustered."

He had to assume that he had, indeed, heard her right. Dino gulped whilst glancing down, noticing that she'd somehow managed to shift closer to him on the bed. Their shoulders were only just lightly touching, whilst their knees were close, too.

"Is that why it's been awkward between us?" he asked, quietly. If that was why she thought he allowed her into his home, then she probably thought more of their relationship than he did. They were only just friends, he had thought. They joked, stayed away from personal topics, and yet there M.M. sat on his bed wanting him to push that. When she nodded her head, Dino leaned forward uncertainly, feeling his cheeks flush as he knew that he was going to embarrass himself.

He felt even more awkward as he tried not to look her in the eyes, sighing to himself in relief as she gently closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen. He pressed his lips tentatively against hers, feeling a rush of confidence as she responded almost immediately. There was only a slight pressure on their lips as they moved; it was slow, but clumsy.

When M.M. placed her hand upon his, Dino stiffened for a moment before continuing. He'd finally worked up the courage—after mentally shouting at himself—to push the kiss further. As he tentatively trailed his appendage over her bottom lip, he abruptly pulled back when there was a loud noise from the wall next to them.

As more noises were produced, sounding as though something heavy was crashing, Dino was already up from the bed and opening up the sliding door into the garden.

"What the hell?" M.M. asked, scowling. "You said your brother was with that sports freak! So why are you leaving?"

Dino grimaced from her attitude. If she really was going to keep referring to his friends that way, their relationship wasn't going to be very good at all. "I _care _about the kid next door, he's close enough to be family, and if you can't deal with that, well... I'll see you at school."

He didn't wait for an answer. He knocked against Kyouya's door and then tried the handle, reminding himself to scold the younger male later as it was already open. Dino quickly entered the door and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that a shelf had fallen down, bringing the rest of them and the contents down as well. He didn't waste time in standing still and staring, and quickly checked whether Kyouya was okay.

Rather than asking why he was there, Kyouya questioned, "Why is your face red?"

He wasn't about to say that not even a minute ago he was kissing a girl on his bed. "It's red from worry. I thought you were seriously hurt."

"I'm fine." Dino blinked, relieved that he'd accepted it so easily. "I thought you were busy today."

"So you thought I wouldn't come in here, worried?" Dino questioned, laughing lightly and flicking the younger male's forehead. Kyouya scowled as he rubbed the spot where he had been flicked, staring at the ground. "I'm never too busy for you."

-x-

**AN: **I think this is my first time referencing something in a chapter? "_You're terrible, Muriel_" was going through my head all the way through the last scene. I know that M.M.'s not a popular character at all but I'd like to point out, it wasn't me that chose her! I asked someone (I can't remember who now) to name a random female character, so they did. They don't really work well together, but that's the last of M.M. in this story. Many have requested that Squalo, particularly, should be in this story when he already was. In one of the previous chapters Ryouhei talks about some student he _thinks _is female in his class—that's Squalo.

Just a reminder to anyone who's confused that with each chapter the ages are going up by one year until Kyouya's sixteen. In this chapter he's nine. Just a few more, okay? And then it'll slow down and focus on their more, well, adult relationship and the people around them. It's not just going to be cute things and growing up all the way through.

Thank you to anyone who's reading this. Also has no one noticed the chapter names yet?

_"Do you know what high school means, boys? Shorter skirts."_  
><em>"I kind of made her cry."<em>


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